Farm Girl
by goneofftodream
Summary: In the past couple of years, Emily finds her life being turned upside. 'A' forces the girls to leave Rosewood, and Emily finds herself heading down South to stay with the McCullers. For the first time in 12 years, Emily finds herself reconnecting with her past. What will happen when the two see each other for the first time?
1. Chapter 1

**Hey guys! I just wanted to say thank you for being such awesome/avid readers. I've been sort of free-writing, you know just trying to clear the brain. I came up with this little entry. I know it's not much, and that it jumps around a lot. Give me thoughts and feed back on it. I want to make this into another story, that people want to read. Feel free to comment with ideas or PM me. THANK YOU! LOVE YOU! I hope you enjoy this sneak peek.**

 **Chapter 1**

 **Seven Years Ago:**

"911 what's your emergency?" Silence. "Hello? Is anyone there?"

"M-my friend…we're driving…a-and…I can't feel my legs," the girl panicked.

"Alright sweetie, don't worry help is coming. I want you to stay on the line with me. Now can you tell me what happened? Did your car crash?"

"It's raining," the girl said, looking out her shattered window. "Is it raining?"

"It is raining."

"I can't feel my legs…" the girl repeated.

"It's okay honey. Try not to move."

The girl heard sirens in the distance. Red and blue lights reflected off the shattered glass scattering the ground. She heard muffled voices shouting all around her. A bright light shone in her face, causing her to squint. She could just make out the shadow of the man standing next to her.

"Over here!" she heard him shout. "Can you hear me?" the girl nodded. "Okay, that's good. I

want to stay still. Your legs are pinned under the dash board and you've got a metal shard in your back so I need you to remain very still. We're gonna get you out of here."

"What about my friend?" the girl asked, turning her head toward the driver.

"Your friend is just fine," he said, unconvincingly. "Let's just focus on you. Can you tell me

your name and how old you are?"

"10."

"Can you tell me your name?"

"P-paige," the girl responded, trying to keep her eyes open.

"Okay, Paige. You're going to be just fine, but I need to you stay awake for me. Do you think you can do that?" Paige nodded.

 **Two Years Ago:**

"Emily, I want all the deets," Hanna pleaded.

"Hanna. No."

"Oh come on Em. Ben's like the hottest guy in the school, and he chose you! Can't I just have like one detail. You've been dating for like six months, and you never really talk about him…I bet the sex must be great."

"Hanna!" Emily shouted, playfully slapping Hanna on the shoulder. "God, do you even have a filter?"

"So that's a yes to the amazing sex," Hanna confirmed. When she caught sight of Emily blushing hard, "I knew it."

"God Hanna, sometimes," Emily said, standing up.

"You know you love me," Hanna cooed.

"Yeah, yeah, I'm leaving," Emily said, gathering her things and heading out to her car.

She pulled into her driveway ten minutes later. Pam's car was in the driveway. She'd taken a few days off to clean up the house before Emily's father got home from his final tour. When she entered the house, she knew something was wrong. She didn't smell her mother's cooking, the house was silent, and her mother didn't come to greet her at the door.

"Mom?" Silence. Emily wondered around the house. "Mom?"

"Uh…in here," she heard her mother's voice. Something was off, it sounded like her mother had been crying.

Emily entered the living room and found her mother sitting on the couch. Her eyes were puffy and red from crying.

"Mom, what's going on? Is dad okay?" Emily asked desperately.

"No…" Pam responded, breaking into tears.

"Mom. What happened? Where's dad?"

"Emmy, sit down," Pam said, motioning for Emily to take a seat next to her.

"No…no…he-he was supposed to come home on Sunday," Emily said, shaking her head. "This can't be happening. This-this isn't happening."

"I know, honey," Pam said, pulling Emily into her arms. "I know."

"It's not fair…he was supposed to come home!" Emily sobbed. "He was supposed to come home.

 **One Year Ago:**

 _"_ _Last week a body was discovered under a gazebo. Property is said to have belonged to the DiLaurentis's, before they sold their house two years ago after the disappearance of their daughter, Alison DiLaurentis. Alison DiLaurentis disappeared two years ago from Rosewood Central Park. No one has seen or heard from her since. The body that was discovered was sent the coroner's office. Officers believe that the body discovered could in fact be the body of Alison DiLaurentis…"_

 **Two Months Ago:**

"Girls, this is not a discussion," the detective spoke sternly. "This is for your own safety."

"You expect us to completely uproot our lives and leave?" Spencer argued.

"Yes. These threats are serious. Two weeks ago Emily was almost run over by a car."

"But she lived!" Hanna added. "We can't just leave. You really expect that if we leave this will all stop."

"It's worth a shot."

"Worth a shot my ass," Hanna argued.

"Look, I don't like doing this anymore that you do. But if it means that we have a chance at keeping you safe and ALIVE…then it's a chance I'm willing to take."

"And what if A finds us, then what?" Spencer confronted. "Are you going to uproot us again?"

"If we have to…yes. All social media will be erased, no phones, no internet, you'll be completely off the grid. Only a few people will know where you are."

"Well that's just great," Hanna said angrily. "We don't even get a fucking phone. At least we'll be together."

"Unfortunately not," the detective responded. "But you'll be given secured phones for calling only."

"Well that's just great!" Hanna shouted.

"It'll be harder to find you if you're in separate places."

"Okay, well where are we all going then? Timbuctoo?" Spencer asked sarcastically.

"Unfortunately, we can't share that information with you."

"Great!" Aria said, frustrated. "My life just got so much better."

"How long is this supposed to last?" Emily asked.

"Until we catch the suspect."

"So for all we know we could be uprooted until we're 30?"

"Well…yes…this will all go into affected at the end of June, after you finish your junior year."

 **Present:**

The detective had told Emily that she would be going to Northern Georgia to stay with a 'family friend'. She tried to think of people she knew who lived in Georgia, but she couldn't think of a single person.

"Em, Ben's here," Pam called from the stairs. Emily heard Ben's footsteps coming up the stairs and soon he appeared in Emily's doorway.

"Hey."

"Hey. I didn't mean to come here unannounced. I just wanted to see you before you left."

"It's okay. I'm glad you came," Emily said, pulling Ben into a hug.

"I just wanted to say 'I'm sorry for the way things ended, and I'm sorry for being an asshole."

"I know…" Emily said, placing a gentle kiss on Ben's cheek.

"I do love you Emily, and I want you to know I'll always be here if you ever need anyone."

"I appreciate that…and for the record. You're not an asshole, just a dick sometimes."

"Fair enough," he chuckled. "So…are you excited?"

"I don't think excited is the right term."

"I know. I'm just trying to—"

"I know," Emily said, cutting him off. "I guess I'm just frustrated by the whole thing. And the worst part about it, I have to keep a 'low profile' which means no swimming."

"This won't last long. I promise. If you need anything, I'm only a phone call away or letter or whatever you're allowed to have."

"Emily the car's here!" Pam shouted from the foot of the stairs.

"I'll be down in a minute!" Emily called back. "I guess this is it."

"I guess so. I'm gonna miss you Em."

"I'll miss you more. But, can you do me a favor?"

"Anything."

"Look after my mom…"

"Of course, besides, who could resist her cooking," Ben said, smiling.

They carried her suitcases down the stairs and put them in the car the police had sent over.

"So this is it," Ben said sadly.

"I guess so…"

"'I'll see ya soon, Em."

"See you soon," Emily said, pulling Ben into a tight hug. She watched Ben get into his car and drive away before turning to her mom.

"Oh, Emmy," Pam said, giving Emily a hug.

"Mom. Promise me you'll take care of yourself."

"I will. Be safe out there, you hear?"

"I will."

"Oh, I love you so much!"

"I love you too, mom. I'll call you when I can."

"I know you will," Pam said, kissing Emily on the cheek.

Emily gave her mom one more hug before getting into the car. She watched her house become smaller and smaller, before it eventually disappeared. They arrived at the Philadelphia airport about an hour later. The detective guided her threw the airport, until they reached the gate. Emily glanced at the gate screen: Atlanta, Georgia.

Things were finally becoming a reality for Emily. She never thought the day would come where she'd uproot her entire life and go live with strangers in Georgia. This couldn't be happening…this wasn't happening…but it was.

"When you get to the airport, they'll be someone there to pick you up. You've been given your mother's maiden name, Woods. They have all the things you'll need when you get there. Now get on the plane. We'll be in touch."

"Okay," Emily said quietly.

She handed the flight attendant her ticket and boarded the plane. She took her window seat and put her headphones in.

Two hours later she was filing off the plane with the rest of the people. She navigated her way towards the baggage claim, and found it swarming with people. She waited for the bell to ring before the bags appeared on the carousel. She spotted her two bags and quickly grabbed them before looking for a woman holding a 'Woods' name plate.

Emily felt a guilt wash over her. By using the name Woods, it felt like she was turning her back on her father, like he didn't exist anymore. It's only been two years since he passed, but everyday, it felt like the Band-Aid was ripping open a fresh wound.

She spotted a woman holding up a 'Woods' name plate. The woman had auburn hair with a few grey strands. She was wearing blue jeans and a white blouse. She looked oddly familiar, but Emily couldn't figure out where she'd met her. The woman obviously recognized her, because when she spotted Emily, she immediately put her sign away and went to help Emily with her bags.

"Emily," she said politely.

"Hi."

"Oh, you probably don't remember me. You were pretty little when we met," she said. "I'm Christine McCullers."

McCullers…McCullers…There was a Nick McCullers that served with her father back at Fort Hood when she was little. She didn't remember much about them, they had a daughter. They used to play together all the time when they were little.

"It's nice to meet you…again," Emily said, awkwardly.

"How was your flight?"

"Quick."

They made their way out into the parking garage. Emily was surprised to see that Christine drove a truck, but maybe that was what people drove in Georgia. She wouldn't know.

"So do you live near Atlanta?" Emily asked.

"You could say that. We live in Suches. It's about two hours away. It's a small town, but the people there are extremely friendly."

"I'm sorry. I don't mean to be rude, but how exactly do I know you?"

"Oh, my husband was station at Fort Hood with your father," Christine said. "Once he was discharged 12 years ago, we moved here. We have a daughter. You two were attached at the hip when you were younger." It was the McCullers that Emily was thinking of.

"Paige right?'

"Yup. She's about your age."

"So…um the detective said that you'd have all the things I needed."

"Oh yes. Check the glove box. There should be a yellow envelope."

Emily opened the glove box and pulled out the yellow envelope. Inside there was a cellphone and a new license. She pulled out the phone. There was a note attached to it. _You can use this phone for calls. It's a burner phone so it can't be traced. Be cautious._ She turned the phone over in her hands before pocketing it. Next she pulled out the license. It was a Georgia license, with the name Emily Woods on it. There was a address that she didn't recognize, but she assumed that it was the McCullers.

Two hours later they turned onto a dirt road. Emily saw a white two-story country house come into view. A porch surrounded the front of the house. She was able to make out the shape of a barn through the darkness, and she swore she heard a cow mooing in the distance.

The inside of the McCullers's house was homey. There was a fire place in the corner of the living room. Christine led Emily upstairs. There were only two bedrooms upstairs that were conjoined by a bathroom.

"Well, home sweet home," Christine said, placing Emily's bags next to the bed. "There are towels in the bathroom closet if you want to take a shower. There's food in the fridge if your hungry. If you need anything our room's downstairs next to the kitchen."

"Thanks."

Emily glanced around the room. The walls were a light shade of blue. The only pieces of furniture were a desk, bureau, and nightstand. Emily spent the rest of the night unpacking her suitcase into the closet and bureau.

"Hey Paige," Kelsey shouted. "Catch!" Paige caught the wad of money that Kelsey tossed to her.

"All this from the tips?" Paige asked, unrolling the bills.

"I guess it was a lucky day. I'll see you tomorrow."

"Yeah."

People's Café was the local café in Suches. Paige had been working there the moment she turned 14. She usually worked the morning shift and sometimes closed, which was around 10:30pm. The drive from Suches to her house, was about a 15-minute drive. Both her parents' cars were in the driveway, which meant that Emily was there. She glanced up at the guest bedroom, but the lights were off. Emily had probably already gone to bed.

Paige quietly made her way into her house and upstairs. Emily's door was closed when she made it onto the landing. She quickly changed out of her work uniform and into shorts and a t-shirt. The bathroom door was slightly ajar on Emily's side. Paige quickly shut it to prevent the light from entering Emily's room.

It'd been 12 years since the last time she'd seen Emily. She wondered if she still had the cute baby cheeks. Her parents hadn't told her much about Emily's situation, only that Emily needed to be away from Pennsylvania for a while. She figured it was best not to ask questions unless Emily decided to tell her. Who knew what tomorrow would bring, she just hoped that she and Emily could get along, like the used to do when they were kids.


	2. Chapter 2

**Hey guys! I whipped this chapter together last night! I hope you like the direction that this story is going in. Let me know if you have any comments, questions, or ideas for the story! I was thinking of maybe reversing the role of Emily and Paige and have Emily be the one who's struggling with coming out. What do you guys think?**

 **Chapter 2**

Paige got up early the next morning to work the morning and afternoon shift at People's. Emily awoke a few hours later to the sunlight pouring into her room. It took her a moment to realize that she wasn't in her own room. She glanced at the clock resting on her nightstand: 9:35am.

She stumbled into the bathroom and began to brush her teeth. Paige's bathroom door was open, and Emily could make out the end of Paige's bed and her desk. She threw on a shirt over her sports bra before heading downstairs. The smell of eggs and bacon filled the room, when she made it downstairs.

Christine was in the kitchen frying bacon on the griddle. A man, she assumed was Nick, was seated at the dinner table drinking coffee and reading the Atlanta Daily.

"Oh Emily. You're just in time for breakfast. Can I get you something to drink? Milk? Juice?"

"Do you actually have any coffee?" Emily asked. Christine looked shocked for a minute, but then quickly shook it off.

"Of course. I'm sorry. When I look at you I still see a cute little 6-year-old. It's hard to believe how much you've grown up." Christine grabbed a cup and filled it with the steaming liquid. Emily took a seat at the dinner table and added milk and sugar to her coffee.

"Wow, Emily. It's been too long," Nick said, standing up. "I remember when you were about three feet tall."

"It's good to see you again too," Emily said with a smile.

"How was the flight?"

"Good. A lot shorter than I thought."

"Good. Good. Well, Paige should be back around 3pm. If you're up for it, I would love to show you around after breakfast."

"Yeah that sounds great!"

Emily followed Nick outside after breakfast. They stopped off at the barn that Emily had seen last night. It was much bigger than she remembered seeing. There were two horses in a larger pen on one side, another larger empty pen on the other side, and a chicken coop in the corner. There was an industrial size fridge in the corner along with a metal contraction that Emily didn't recognize.

"So these are our two horses, Alfie and Beanie," Nick said, stroking one of the horse's mane. "They're friendly. Don't worry."

Emily reached out and gently placed a hand on the horse's neck. Its hair was fine, yet coarse. The horse leaned into her hand, slightly before neighing.

"See…Alfie likes you. Ever ridden a horse before?"

"Ha, I'd probably kill myself before I even got on the horse."

"Paige is really good with the horses. I'm sure she'd love to teach you."

"So…uh you guys live on a farm?"

"Well…ranch. We have a few acres of land that we grow vegetables on."

"What's in that pen?" Emily asked, pointing to the larger empty pen.

"Oh, that's where we keep the cows."

"Cows?"

"Yup We've got four of them, three females and one male."

"So, you like milk them and all too," Emily said, motioning to the fridge and metal contraption.

"Yup, milk them twice a day. Once in the morning and once in the evening when we corral them back in. Usually either Paige or Christine will milk them in the morning and then I'll take them in in the evening after work."

"You make the milk and everything too."

"Yup, that's a pasteurizing machine over there. We usually get around 24 gallons a day. We keep some for ourselves and then the rest we sell to a local grocery store or market and give to our neighbors."

"Wow…and the chickens."

"Yup," he chuckled. "We only have a few chickens, so we usually keep all the eggs. The only thing we actually sell is the milk, and then the vegetables that are grown in the fall."

"How do you have time for all of this?"

"Well, Christine does most of the work during the day. Then every Saturday we do a full day's work, usually catching up, cleaning the stalls, tending the fields, grooming the horses, making the milk."

"Wow…"

"Yeah, it's a lot of work, but we all love it. Paige always wanted a horse since she was little. I remember when we first got Alfie, she wouldn't leave his side."

They wandered out into the field. Nick pointed out a few vegetables that they had planted, and some of the land that was still being tilled and turned. A little further out, Emily spotted a reasonable size lake. Nick noted that you could swim in it, and that it was a nice way to cool down in the summer.

They made it back to the house a little after 2:30. Emily decided to go up to her room and rest for a little while, while Nick whipped up some sandwiches. It was around three when Emily heard a car coming down the dirt road. She glanced out her window and spotted a grey truck pulling up next to Christine's truck. She heard muffled voices downstairs, before someone started to climb the stairs.

Paige quickly changed out her work attire and into shorts and a t-shirt. She made her way into the bathroom and washed the coffee grime from her hands and face. She hadn't spotted Emily downstairs; she figured she was in her room. She gave Emily's bathroom door a few knocks before she heard Emily's voice.

"Yeah. It's open." Paige slowly opened the sliding door. Emily was laying on her bed; her gaze focused on the ceiling.

Emily's hair was pulled into a loose pony tail. Paige tried not to let herself stare for too long, but how could she not. Emily was beautiful. The little tiny chubby cheek Emily she remembered was gone. Instead a gorgeous woman lay in front of her. She shook herself out of her trance, when Emily turned her eyes on her.

"Paige?" Emily asked in surprise.

"Hey Em."

"Wow. You look…" Emily said, shaking her head in amazement. She never thought she'd see Paige so grown up.

"Beautiful, handsome, stunning, taller, all of the above?" Paige joked.

"Well I was gonna say something different, but those work too."

"Yeah I lost the baby fat and gained muscles instead," she laughed.

"Well. It suits you," Emily said, pushing herself off the bed. Paige was still taller than Emily, but only by an inch or so. "I can't believe it's been 12 years."

"I know," Paige said, taking a step closer. "I would give you a hug, but I'm not sure where we stand on the friendship level."

"God Paige, come here," Emily said, pulling Paige into a hug. "We'll get to know each other. I mean…I guess I'm gonna be here for a while…so you're gonna have to get to know me at some point."

"Yeah. Come on, my dad just finished making lunch, and I'm starving," Paige said, before leaving Emily's room.

They grabbed the sandwiches Nick had prepared before taking a seat at the table in the front lawn. They ate quietly. It wasn't until both of them were done that Paige finally spoke.

"So Em, tell me a little bit about yourself," Paige inquired. A smile appeared on Emily's lips when she heard Paige use her nickname, 'Em'.

"What do you wanna know?"

"I don't know, anything you want to tell me…Like what's your favorite color? Food? Game? Book?"

"Well, I'm 18. My favorite color is periwinkle; favorite food is pizza. I don't really have a favorite game, anything with cards I guess. I love swimming. I used to swim back in Pennsylvania. I love cheesy romantic comedies, Friends, crime shows, and Disney."

"Cheesy rom-coms, I never would have guessed," Paige laughed.

"Don't tell me you've never watched a rom-com…" Paige shook her head. "Not even Sleepless in Seattle? Silver Linings Playbook? Bridget Jones? None?" Paige shook her head again. "Jesus…you live in the dark ages. What do you do for fun?"

"Read books, ride Alfie, help my mom with the animals, and swim."

"You swim too?"

"Yeah. I swim for my high school."

"Who knew…I remember you hated water when you were little."

"Yeah...a lot of things changed. I guess I got over my fear," Paige said with a warm smile. "But I will be sure to get you into a pool and kick your ass."

"Oh really?"

"Really."

"Alright. I'll hold you to it. So…what has the infamous Paige McCullers been up too?"

"Oh you know…tending to the fields morning, noon, and night."

"Do you do anything for fun?"

"Ride Alfie, swim, and I guess hang out with friends."

"Wow…quite the socialite…" Emily joked.

"I make do. Besides who really needs picturegram and Facebook anyways."

"I guess you're right. It is nice not having that distraction. And its Instagram."

"Oh my bad…Instagram," Paige cooed. "What do you do for fun?"

"Honestly, I just sit in my window seat and stare out the window. It's sorta of calming."

"I get that. I go out to the stables and just sit there sometimes to think or clear my head. Well we don't have a window seat here, but by the hill just beyond the lake is a great place to just think and sit if you ever need time alone," Paige said, motioning to the hill.

"I'll make sure to keep that in mind."

They talked for a few more hours before Christine sent Paige to the neighbor's house to deliver some of their extra milk.

"You wanna come?" Paige asked.

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah. I could use some help carrying the milk."

"Okay sure," Emily said, following Paige to her truck. She backed her truck up to the entrance of the barn. "So you drive a truck too."

"Yeah, of course. This truck's my baby, had her since I was 15. My parents thought about getting a sedan, but it wouldn't be very useful around the farm." Paige opened the fridge and pulled out two metal containers, one larger and one small. Emily helped her load them into the back of the truck before hopping into the passenger seat.

"So do you just give the milk to the neighbors?"

"Yeah. They usually help us out with the harvest in the fall. They've got six kids. It's the least we could do for them; besides we produce over a hundred gallons a week. Milk is a great source of calcium for growing kids."

They pulled onto another dirt road a few minutes later. A shabby country house came into view a few minutes later. There were two children outside when they pulled up in front of the house.

"Paige!" the little girl shouted and ran to Paige. Paige picked her up and spun her around laughing.

"Lily!" Paige laughed.

"Mom, Paige is here!" the other girl shouted.

A few minutes later, a shorter plump woman appeared in the doorway. A smile appeared on her lips when she caught sight of Paige and Lily.

"She sure missed you," the woman laughed, coming down the stairs.

"I bet she did. How are you Maggie?"

"Great! It's been such a nice week. The kids have been outside all day."

"Is that right? Paige asked Lily. She nodded happily. A smile appeared on Emily's lip; she never realized how good Paige was with children.

"Oh Maggie. This is my friend Emily. She's staying with us for a little while. Emily this is Maggie Harrison."

"Oh Emily, it's good to meet you," Maggie said, extending a hand.

"It's nice to meet you."

"Well, I grabbed 15 gallons. I hope that's okay," Paige said, setting Lily down.

"Paige, it's perfect. We're just thankful for anything we can get," she said, following Paige around to the back of the truck. "I grabbed a two dozen eggs."

"Paige you didn't have too," Maggie said, accepting the eggs gratefully.

"It'll be our little secret," Paige said, with a warm smile.

"Thank you," Maggie said, giving Paige a hug.

"Any time, and if there's anything I can do for you and the kids, just name it."

"Well, you're always welcome here. The kids love it when you stop by."

"I'd be happy to take them off your hands whenever you need me too."

Emily watched the two interact from a distance. Paige spoke with so much care, and Maggie was truly grateful. They exchanged one last hug, before Paige joined Emily in the car.

"You're really great with kids, you know."

"Yeah. I love these kids. I've known them since they were born," Paige said, waving to them as she backed out of the driveway. "They're like family to me."


	3. Chapter 3

**Hey guys! I hoped you enjoyed the last chapter, and their meeting up! I know it might have felt a little awkward, but hey! I whipped this chapter up today, and I really hope that you guys like it! Let me know what you think or if there are things you want me to add, change, or suggestions. I'm open to criticism! Love you all. Enjoy.**

 **Chapter 3**

Saturday came quicker than they would have liked. Paige heard her alarm blare throughout her room. 5:00am. She quickly turned it off before rolling out of bed. She stumbled into the bathroom and flicked the light on. She stared at herself in the mirror for a few minutes. There were dark rings around her eyes, and she tried to stifle her yawns multiple times. She had just started brushing her teeth Emily's bathroom door slide open. She was momentarily shocked to see Emily standing before her. Her hair was in a messy bun, and she was dressed in an oversized shirt and running shorts.

"What are you doing up? The sun's not even up?" Paige asked, surprised to see that Emily was up.

"Well, your dad said that Saturday's a work day. I figured if I'm gonna live here I might as well put in a fair share of work."

"Well then, you're in for a treat," Paige laughed. "You've never had a hard day until you've had a hard day."

"Trust me, I've had hard days. I think I'll be okay."

"Alright," Paige smiled. "On the plus side, mom makes killer breakfasts on Saturdays."

"Can't wait. Now move over. I need to brush my teeth," Emily said, playfully pushing Paige out of the way.

"Alright," Paige laughed, before returning to her room. She threw on a pair of old jeans and a t-shirt before heading downstairs.

Emily came down a few minutes later dressed in shorts and a t-shirt. She grabbed a cup of coffee and took a seat next to Paige at the dinner table. The smell of eggs, bacon, and pancakes filled the room.

"I'm glad you decided to join us this morning Emily," Nick commented. "I'd be great to have a fourth hand."

"Well, I'm happy to help out."

"Alright guys. Eat up," Christine said, placing a giant plate of food in front of each other them.

"So, your mom and I have to go and grab a few things for the harvest this year, and some feed for the cows. Since we've got Emily here, I figure you two could take care of the cows and horses," Nick said. "Oh and we also need more hay. If you could stop by the Robinson's."

"Yeah, sounds good."

"Give 'em a few gallons of milk while you're at it. Our fridge is almost full."

"Alright."

They finished eating breakfast before heading off. Christine and Nick took two separate cars to get the supplies they need, while Emily followed Paige out to the barn. They grabbed a ten galloon metal container of milk and put it in the back of Paige's car.

The drive to the Robinson's was about 20 minutes. Paige exchanged a few quick words with Mrs. Robinson, before hauling the milk container into the house. A few minutes later, Mr. Robinson started loading bales of hay into the truck bed.

"So do you just trade milk for supplies?" Emily asked, when Paige got back into the car.

"All the time!" Paige smiled. "Don't worry. We also pay them."

Paige backed her truck into the barn and the two of them unloaded the hay bales onto the tarp next to the horses.

"Do you have a preference on which one you want to start with?" Paige asked. "Cows? Horses?'

"What do you have to do for each other them?"

"Well…we milk the cows, and then store the milk. For the horses, we groom them and then take them out riding."

"Okay well. There's no way I'm getting on a horse today…so let's start with the cows."

"You're sure you don't want to try?" Paige asked. Emily nodded. "Okay. Uh, grab a stool."

Emily grabbed two stools and placed them next to each, before taking a seat. Paige grabbed the stool next to her.

"Alright, so have you ever milked a cow before?" Emily shook her head. "It's pretty simple. You want to make sure the teats are clean, and then just grab near the top and squeeze. Like this." Emily watched as Paige gave the teat a squeeze and milk shot into the bucket. "Pretty simple. Just try and aim it in the bucket. Give it try."

Emily mimicked the movements Paige had just done. She let out a yelp when the milk squirted out unexpectedly.

"Well…" Paige laughed, wiping some of the milk from her pants. "At least you got some in the bucket."

"Second times a charm?" Emily laughed.

"Here," Paige said, taking Emily's hand and guiding it through the motions again. Emily felt Paige lean in closer, a little closer for her liking. Paige felt Emily shift uncomfortably underneath her. She immediately withdrew her hand with a quick 'Sorry.'

"Um, I gonna start on the rest of the cows. Let me know when your done with this one," Paige said, picking up her stool. She placed in next to the cow farthest away from Emily and turned on some music. They worked in silence for the next hour or so until Emily heard Paige's phone ring.

"Hey!" Paige said, happily. "What's up?" Paige stood up from her stool and began walking towards the entrance of the barn, past Emily. "Tonight? Yeah…How about 9?... Alright cool…Love ya…Bye."

Emily watched Paige come back into the barn, a slight smile present on her face. She was about to ask Paige who that was, when Paige caught her staring.

"What?" she asked, a smile still present.

"Nothing. You just look happy."

"Yeah, I guess I am," Paige said, returning.

"So, let me guess. You've got a hot date tonight?"

"I wouldn't consider it a 'hot' date, but yeah."

"Aww, that's so cute…" Emily cooed. "So how long have you and the lucky man been dating?" Emily could have sworn she saw Paige hesitate before answering the question, either that or she was just caught off guard.

"Uh, year and a half."

"Wow! Commitment," Emily laughed. "Congrats."

"Thanks. What about you? Got anyone special?"

"I guess you could say that. I dated this guy for three years, but now we're just friends…I think."

"You think?" Paige asked confused.

"I don't' know. We broke up over something stupid, but we're still pretty close…It's complicated," Emily said. "I think he's still in love with me…"

"But, you're not in love with him…?" Emily nodded. "I get. I've been in those shoes before."

Emily was surprised that Paige had been in Ben's shoes. With a body and a personality like Paige, she figured every boy would be chasing after her. She thought to ask Paige, but thought better of it.

"So, tell me about him."

"What?"

"Your boyfriend, Paige," Emily laughed.

"Oh right…" Paige said, focusing her attention back on the cow.

"So how'd you two meet?"

"People's Café. I work there during the summer, and a few days during the school year."

"Aw…I love cute love stories."

"I think you watch to many rom-coms."

"That's probably true," Emily laughed.

"Anyways. Are you finished with that cow?"

"Yeah. I think so."

"Cool! Let's bring the buckets to the fridge,' Paige said, picking up her bucket.

Emily attempted to pick up her bucket, but the milk sloshed everywhere from the weight. She questioned how Paige was able to lift the bucket with ease. Paige picked up Emily's bucket with a laugh.

"It takes time."

"That' bucket's gotta weigh like fifty pounds. How?"

"Em, I've been doing this since I was born," Paige laughed. "Come, we've still got the horses to groom."

Emily watched as Paige tied the horses to the wooden post. She grabbed a bucket of brushes and placed them in front of Emily. She started laying out the brushes in a specific order.

"Alright., so this is called a curry comb," Paige said holding up a rubber looking comb. "This removes loose hair, dirt, mud, all the gross stuff. So you want to start on one side of the horse, and work your way down from the neck. Then switch to the other side." Paige picked up another brush, which was hard-bristled. "Alright. This is a dandy brush, or a hard brush. It removed all the stuff the curry comb loosened. You do the same with this brush. Just avoid the face, ears, mane, tail, and legs." She pulled out another, softer looking brush. "Okay, this is the soft brush. You can use it everywhere. And then you can brush out the mane and tail with this comb. Think you got it?"

"I think so…" Emily said, looking over the brushes. "What are you gonna do?"

"I'm gonna pick the hooves and wash their faces. Just be careful where you put your feet. They're usually pretty good, but sometimes they get a little riled up. If they do, just back away until they calm down."

Emily did as Paige instructed her. It was easier than she thought it would be. Alfie remained calm, while she brushed him. Paige checked in on her every once and a while. Emily watched Paige pick at the hooves of Beanie. She was so gentle and caring with the horses. It was like she had a silent friendship with them.

It was a little after two when Emily finished grooming the horses. Paige let the cows out to graze in the pastures beyond the lake.

"How about we feed these horses, and then grab lunch. I'm starving," Paige said, stretching.

"Yeah."

"Alright. There are a few carrots in the fridge if you want to grab them." Emily grabbed the bag of carrots, while Paige pitchforked some hay into the pen. "You wanna feed them?"

"Like feed them, feed them?"

"Yeah, here," Paige said, grabbing a carrot from the bag. "Alfie. Tsk Tsk." Alfie caught sight of the carrot and trotted over to her happily. He gratefully snatched the carrot from Paige's hand and nibbled at it. "See…" Paige stroke Alfie's cheek, a smile evident on her face. "You try."

Emily took a carrot from the bag and raised it up to Beanie. She looked at it for a minute, before gently taking it from Emily's grasp. "Wow…"

"See…she likes you," Paige said, scratching Beanie behind the ears.

Christine and Nick came back around three. They all grabbed a quick lunch before heading back out. Paige and Nick took the horses for a ride. Emily helped Christine clean and gather eggs from the chicken coop. They spent the rest of the day working in the field, watering, tilling, and spreading fertilizer.

Christine started dinner around 6:30, while the rest of them finished in the field. It was around 7:30 when Emily collapsed onto the couch. Paige took a seat next to her laughing.

"Hard days' work, huh?"

"You can say that again," Emily sighed. "I had fun today."

"Me too."

"Girls! Dinner's ready!" Christine shouted form the kitchen.

They gathered around the dinner table and ate their dinner in simple conversation. Emily followed Paige upstairs after dinner.

"I'm gonna take a quick shower," Paige said, walking into her room. "Do you need anything from the bathroom.

"I'm just gonna wash my face really quick."

"Sure," Paige said, rummaging through her drawers.

Emily heard the shower start, and fifteen minutes later she heard the water turn off. It was around nine when she heard a car coming down the dirt road. Paige appeared in the hallway a few minutes later. She had shorts and a pocket-tee on.

"Get some sleep. You look like you need it," Paige said, leaning against Emily's doorframe.

"I could say the same about you," Emily yawned.

"Hey, I'm used to this," Paige laughed. "I'll see ya later."

"Yeah. Have fun."

And just like that Paige was gone. She heard a car door open and close, an engine start, and then the sound of the tires rolling away on the dirt.

She pulled out the phone that they had given her and punched in a few numbers before she heard the line being picked up.

"Hello?"

"Hey mom…it's me."

"Emmy?" She heard her mother's voice.

"Yeah."

"OH! It's so good to hear your voice! I know you can't say who you're with, but they're treating you okay?"

"Yeah mom. They're great. Really nice."

"That's good. How are you?"

"I'm good. I'm tired though."

"I know. "

"How are things there?" Emily said, trying not to mention any locations.

"Things are good. Nothing's changed much."

"I miss you."

"I miss you too honey."

 **** I know that this past week might have been particularly hard for some of you. I know it was for me, but just remember that you are loved by everyone, and I along with this entire community will not stand for discrimination of this kind. Love is a beautiful thing and should be shared by all. If you ever need someone to talk to, know that I am here. I love you no matter who you are or where you come from.**


	4. Chapter 4

**Hey guys! Hope you're all having a great weekend, and week. Just punched out this chapter. Hope you guys like it. Let me know what you think, comments, suggestions, I'm all ears.**

 **To answer some questions: This story switches between Emily's view and Paige's view quite frequently. I know that it's most likely not proper english but who cares. It's the creativity that counts. Y'all will be finding out who the friend was that Paige was with very soon, but unfortunately she is not alive. Wayne Fields died in battle right before he was due to come home. I haven't decided if I will go into further detail on that subject yet. Ali's death is based on the TV show, although this time she doesn't really come back. The trial is just a scenario to get Emily and Paige together. I honestly didn't think about it too much when I got the idea to write this, but I will definitely try to incorporate it more if that is what you guys want.**

 **Sorry for responding to questions so late. It's been a hectic month with the election and what not. I'll try to be more diligent about posting and responding to questions. But in the mean time I hope you enjoy this chapter!**

 **~ GOTD**

Emily awoke late the next morning. Paige's room was empty, and the bed looked like it hadn't been slept in. Christine was in the barn milking the cows when Emily made it to the kitchen. She poured herself a bowl of cereal, took a seat on the couch in the living room and turned on the TV. She was too engrossed in the show to even notice the car pulling up.

"Let me guess…the guy in the hat is the bad guy." She heard Emily give a little yelp before turning around to face her.

"Jesus Paige…you scared me," Emily said, wiping some of the cereal from her shirt.

"Sorry. I couldn't pass up the opportunity," Paige laughed. "I think you got some cereal…" Paige pointed to her chin and Emily immediately wiped the milk from her chin.

"You suck."

"Thanks, I'll take that as a compliment."

"Are you just getting back?"

"Yeah," Paige said, pouring herself a bowl of cereal before joining Emily on the couch.

"Fun night?" Emily watched Paige's cheeks flush red. She let out a laugh before turning her attention back to the TV. "Thought so."

"Yeah, yeah. So, did you just get up?"

"Yeah."

"Nice. Well…I'm gonna go clean up. I have to go and collect some milk cartons this afternoon if you want to come."

"Sure."

An hour later Emily was sitting in Paige's car. They stopped off at the Robinson's first and grabbed the container, before hitting the local grocery store. By the time they pulled up into Paige's neighbor's driveway, the bed of the trunk was full of metal milk containers.

Emily got out of the car, and waited while Paige talked to Maggie. Emily felt a tug on her hand, when she looked down she saw a girl no older than four tugging at her hand.

"Hi," Emily said, kneeling down in front of the girl.

"Hi."

"What's your name?"

"Wiwy," she said with a smile. Emily recognized the girl from before, Lily.

"Well, it's nice to meet you Lily. I'm Emily."

"Emwy."

"Haha, yeah."

"Your wery pwitty."

"Why, thank you."

"Don't get into too much trouble," Paige said, passing the two of them. "This little one's a trouble maker."

"Paige!"

"Hey!" Paige said, sweeping Lily off her feet. Emily heard Lily giggle away as Paige carried her back to the house. "Stay out of trouble, you."

"Okay," she said, putting on a cheeky smile.

Paige gave Lily another quick hug before waving as she walked back to the car. Emily couldn't help but smile. She already knew that Paige was going to make a great mother.

They washed and cleaned the cartons before giving them to Christine to fill with milk. Emily spent the rest of the day wandering around the fields, while Paige went to work.

The first month of Emily's stay went by faster than she thought it would. She talked to her mom on every Saturday after their long day. As far as she knew, they hadn't made any progress on the case.

Emily slowly fell into the McCullers daily routine. If she woke early one day, she would go out and help Christine or Paige in the barn. Paige still hadn't convinced her to get on a horse, but Emily was slowly starting to break.

Emily spent most of her days wandering the farm, grooming the horses, and sometimes even sitting and watching the cows grazed. She understood how Paige could make herself busy. The only time she found herself watching TV was Sunday morning for about an hour. The rest of the time she was able to occupy herself with things to do. Her main goal was to discover who this mystery man was that Paige was dating. She hadn't gotten a name out of her, nor had she met him. Paige had given a few details about her how they met and what his personality was, but Emily soon discovered that Paige was a very private person when it came to relationships. Paige was eager to learn more about Emily, than talk about herself.

August rolled around, and Emily started focusing on the fact that she would be starting at a new school is just one week. She'd been given the run-down on how she was supposed to act and behave while at school. "Act normal" they all said. She wasn't allowed to wear anything from her home town that represented Rosewood or anything closely related.

"Hey, Em," Paige said, sticking her head into Emily's room.

"Yeah?"

"We just got our schedules in the mail. Do you want to take a look?" Paige held up two envelopes.

"Sure, come in."

Paige took a seat on the end of Emily's bed and handed Emily a letter with her name: Emily Woods printed on it. Paige waited while Emily opened her letter and skimmed through her schedule.

"Here? What do you think?" Emily asked, handing her schedule over.

"Chemistry…good…Psych…good…Math…eh…english, we've got that together…Home Ed…it's a joke class you'll ace it…gym…boring…European history…oh I took it last year, you'll love it," Paige said, while skimming through Emily's schedule.

"So…good schedule?"

"Yeah. I've had most of these teachers and they're pretty good. Your math class is gonna be hard, but I took it last year so I'll help you. Other than that…you've got a good schedule."

"Is English the only class we have together?"

"Yeah, unfortunately…we don't even have lunch together. The good thing about UC is we don't technically have a cafeteria. People usual just grab lunch and then eat it where they want. There aren't like specific places you have to eat…so don't feel uncomfortable if you eat along."

"Geez, thanks Paige…"

"You know that's not what I meant," Paige said sincerely.

"I know."

"Well. My mom's making a run into Atlanta tomorrow to grab a few things for school. I'll tell her to grab some notebooks and pencils?"

"Yeah. That would be great. I can pay her back after."

"Nah, don't worry about it," Paige said, waving Emily off.

"One day Paige, I'll pay for something."

"One day," Paige laughed.

"Are you going out tonight?"

"Yeah. I'm leaving in a few minutes," Paige said, glancing at the clock.

"Stay out of trouble," Emily joked.

"You know I always do."

"Sometimes I doubt that," Emily laughed.

"Well…I guess you'll just have to get to know me better," Paige said.

"I guess I will," Emily whispered as she watched Paige saunter down the hallway.

Emily had noticed how quickly her and Paige's relationship seemed to be growing. It was as if their twelve years apart had strengthened their relationship. She noticed all the little things that Paige had done for her. It was like the best friend she never had, not even Spencer could compare to Paige. There was just something about Paige that Emily couldn't figure out. Paige always knew the right things to say when Emily was feeling down.

Emily took a seat on her bed and pulled out a tattered cardboard box from underneath her bed. She opened it and pulled out a rectangular velvet box. She ran her fingers over the smooth purple medal. The Purple Heart.

Emily pulled out some of the loose photos in box and began flipping through them. There were pictures of the four girls: Spencer, Aria and Hanna, there were a few random ones with her and her mother, and then her and her father.

She held onto the one that had been the most wrinkled and worn. It was a picture her when she was a little girl, sitting on her father's shoulder, both laughing uncontrollably. She remembered that day like it was yesterday.

"I miss you daddy."

Paige quietly snuck back into her house a little after two. She avoided the third stair that creaked, and quickly shut her door behind her before turning on the light. She tried to be as quiet as possible as she brushed her teeth and got ready for bed.

Emily heard the bathroom door slide open and then closed. She quickly wiped the tears from her eyes before heading to the bathroom. She heard Paige rustling around in her room, and quickly attempted to compose herself, before she knocked on Paige's door. She didn't hear an answer, but decided to slowly pull open the door.

"Oh, um, I'm sorry," Emily said, quickly turning around and closing the door when she realized Paige was in the middle of changing.

"Em?" Paige asked, open the door. "You're still up?"

"Sorry, I, uh, didn't mean to…" Emily said, wiping her eyes.

"It's okay. You can come in if you want," Paige said, turning to head back into her room.

Emily turned around and saw Paige heading back into her room. She caught a glimpse of a long scar running up the length of Paige's back before it was quickly covered with her t-shirt. She hadn't noticed them until now, but Paige also had several scars running the length of her legs and knees.

"What are you doing up so late?" Paige asked, taking a seat on her bed. When Paige turned around, she noticed Emily red and swollen eyes. "You've been crying. Is everything okay?"

"Yeah…sorry…I-I, uh, I didn't mean to come here and complain about my problems…I-I just…uh, how was your date?"

"Hey…it's okay," Paige said, sympathetically. "What's wrong? Did something happen?"

"This was the day that my dad was supposed to come home," Emily said, trying to control her sobs. "I know it's been two years…but it feels like everything happened yesterday…and my mom, she's all alone…and I-I can't do anything about it…I—" Paige pulled into a hug, silencing everything except her sobs.

"It's okay," Paige said, rubbing circles on Emily's back. "It's okay."

"I'm sorry…I didn't to come in here with all my problems…" Emily said, wiping her eyes.

"Hey…I'm always here, just like when we were six."

"I know this is gonna sound crazy, maybe stupid, but would you hold me?"

"Of course," Paige said, a warm smile appearing on her face.

Paige took a seat on her bed and Emily curled up into Paige's open arms. Emily wrapped an arm around Paige's stomach and rest her head in the crook of Paige's shoulder. Paige gently ran her fingers though Emily's hair.

"Do you remember that one time, when we were thought we were Nascar drivers, and your dad use to push us around in that tiny blue plastic car because the battery died?"

"Yeah, but I remember that you were the one that crash it into the tree," Emily said, letting out a small laugh.

"Hey, in my defense a six-year-old should never be allowed to drive…and I remember that you were the one who wanted to go faster."

"Thanks, Paige," Emily whispered.

"Anytime…"

Emily felt an arm tighten around her stomach. She took comfort in it, until she realized that she wasn't in her room. She was in Paige's. She tried to untangled herself as quickly as possible, but Paige tightened her grip.

"Shana," Paige mumbled. Shana, who was Shana?"

Emily untangled herself from Paige, successfully waking Paige in the process. Paige must have realized what was going on because she quickly removed her arm and sat up in bed. Emily quickly clambered out of Paige's bed. She remembered coming into Paige's room last night, and Paige holding her because she was upset. She didn't remember falling asleep with Paige.

"Em, you fell asleep, and I couldn't move without waking you," Paige said, trying to explain herself. "I'm sorry if I made you feel uncomfortable."

"I'm sorry...I um… I just need to take a shower and clear my head," Emily said, heading towards the bathroom.

"Okay," Paige said, looking down at bed.

Paige waited until she heard the shower stop and Emily's door close. She waited another half hour, until she sure that Emily was dress before she went and knocked on the door.

"Hey," Paige said, sticking her head into Emily's room.

"Hey."

"Can I, uh, come in?" Emily nodded. "Look about last night. I'm really sorry."

"No, I, uh, overreacted. I'm sorry, I, I don't know, I guess it just felt weird waking up with you around me. I mean you have a boyfriend, and…" Emily rambled trying to find the right words.

"I get it. I should have been more careful. It won't happen again," Paige assured.

"Thank you for last night though."

"Of course, like I said I'm always here," Paige said, with a warm smile.


	5. Chapter 5

**HELLO! I hope you all had an amazing Thanksgiving and got to spend some time with your families. I just wanted to give a big thank you to all of you, readers, followers, favoriters, commenters, everyone. Love you all so much! Sorry about the double upload of chapter 4. I'm slightly jetlagged and uploaded the chapter 4 against but accident. So I just deleted them both, and uploaded it again. My bad. Anyways I hope you enjoy this chapter, and let me know what you think.**

 **Questions Answered: I'm planning on going further in depth with Paige's accident. More will come! :)**

In the following weeks, Emily and Paige pretended as if nothing had happened. Paige kept a reasonable distance from Emily, making sure she watched her every move carefully. Emily spent most of her free time helping out on the farm while Paige was working or out with her "boyfriend". She hadn't met any of Paige's friends, in fact the only people she'd had repeated contact with was the McCullers and Maggie and her family. She hadn't even met Paige's boyfriend.

"Hey, Em, you ready to leave soon?"

"Yeah, I'll be down in a minute."

Emily gathered her things, along her with schedule, before heading downstairs. Paige was downstairs in the kitchen, waiting for Emily.

"Hey, I usually grab breakfast's at People's," Paige said grabbing her keys.

"Okay, do I need to bring money?"

"Nope," Paige said, walking out to her car.

"What about lunch?"

"Oh, my mom got that covered," Paige said, holding up two lunch bags. "The school lunch doesn't have the best reputation."

The drive to People's was only about fifteen minutes. When they pulled up, the café looked deserted. There were maybe one or two people inside when they walked in.

"Ah, Paige, school's back in session I see," an elderly man said cheerfully.

"Sure is," Paige said. "Peter, this is Emily. She's living with us for a while."

"It's nice to meet you," he said shaking Emily's hand. "So, when's swimming starting up?"

"Try outs are starting next week, hopefully we'll be practicing by the end of September."

"Well, let me know when your home meets are. I'd love to see you in action."

"Sure will. You should stop by sometime. My parents would love to have you and your family over for dinner."

"We'd love to," he said, smiling. "I've got to get the rest of the baking done, but please help yourselves."

He disappeared around back, and Paige starting helping herself to a croissant and a cup of coffee. Emily stood there unsure of whether or not it would be okay to take the food.

"Here," Paige said, holding out a croissant to Emily.

"Are you sure?"

"Em, don't worry. Peter's a family friend. I've known him since I was six. We sell our milk to him, and I babysit his kids sometimes."

"Okay," Emily said, accepting the croissant.

They each grabbed another croissant and refilled their coffees before heading out. The drive from People's to school was about twenty minutes. They pulled into the student parking lot. It was crowded with students getting out of their cars and buses.

Emily followed Paige into the school. Paige took her down a row of lockers, looking for a specific one. When she found it, she stopped.

"This is you," she said, motioning to the locker. "Try your combo…see if it works."

Emily turned the dial a few times before he heard a 'click' and the locker opened. It was completely empty. She placed her lunch and a few of her notebooks in there.

"Alright so the schools in the shape of a giant U, with the gym and pool in the middle. We're in the middle right now, and most of your classes are gonna be in this stretch of hallway. Chemistry is gonna be around the corner and up the hallway, and math is around the other corner and up the hall," Paige said, motioning to where Emily's classes were. "If you need anything, here's a copy of my schedule. I'm usually in the library or commons during my free periods."

"Okay."

"Psych's in that classroom right there," Paige said pointing to a door. "I'll see you in English."

"Okay," Emily nodded.

A warning bell rang throughout the hallways. Paige gave Emily a warm smile before heading down the hallway in the opposite way. Emily quickly hurried into the classroom and took a seat in the first open seat she saw.

They spent of the class going over the syllabus before the teacher started lecturing. She assigned them a paper about their lives, and a challenge that they've had to overcome. She had to think about something that was a challenge, but also something that wouldn't draw any attention to her.

She spent the rest of the day thinking about something she'd overcome that was also a challenge. She thought that maybe she could talk about her father's death, but there were new articles about that that could tie her back to Rosewood. Everything could tie her back to Rosewood.

She spent her lunch period alone. Paige was right about lunch, though. It wasn't uncommon to see someone eating lunch by themselves. In fact, Emily saw more people eating by themselves than in groups. She found a nice spot in the corner of the courtyard, and began munching on the turkey sandwich Christine had made for her.

"Hey, mind if I sit," someone asked. Emily glanced up from her textbook and found a girl about her age, standing in front of her.

"No, go ahead," Emily said, moving her bag.

"So, you new around here?" the girl asked.

"Yeah."

"Where are you from?"

"Uh…Texas," Emily hesitated. "I'm Emily."

"Sam," the girl said.

They talked quietly for a few minutes before the bell, signaling the end of lunch, rang. Emily said a quick goodbye before hurrying to her last two classes of the day, English and Home Ed. When Emily arrived in her English class, she found Paige sitting around a group of people. Paige motioned to the empty seat next to her.

"Hey," she replied, smiling.

"Hey."

"So…how's your first day going?"

"Good."

"Just good?"

"I guess I'm still adjusting and stuff," Emily said, taking out her notebook.

"Gotcha, oh um, Em, this is my friend, Shana and Kelsey," Paige said, introducing the girls who was sitting next to her. They all said a quick 'hi' to Emily before turning and resuming the conversation that they were having.

"So, meet anyone new?"

"Not really," Emily said, glancing at the teacher who just walked in. "I meet a girl named Sam."

"Sam King? Tall, blonde hair, skater look?"

"Yeah."

"Cool. She's on the swim team with me. She's super nice."

"Alright class, let's get started," the teacher said, officially ending their conversation.

Emily was assigned another paper, an about me paper. Emily felt the pressure mounting up on her. She hated talking or even writing about herself. She thought about coming up with the most generic story, but even then that was hard.

"Hey, I'll meet you by my car after class?"

"Yeah," Emily said, before finding her way to her last class, Home Ed.

As Paige had said, Home Ed was a joke. They spent the whole class going over the syllabus and their upcoming project, cupcakes. When the end of school bell finally rang, she quickly headed to her locker, grabbed a few things, and headed out to Paige's car. Paige was already in the car waiting for Emily. Emily climbed into the passenger seat, and they were off.

It was until Emily let the breath that she'd be holding in out that Paige noticed how tired Emily looked.

"Hey, you okay?" Paige asked, glancing over at Emily.

"Yeah," Emily said, leaning back in her seat and closing her eyes.

"You sure?"

"Yeah…it's just been a long day," Emily said, rubbing her temples.

"Okay, well if you want to talk, I'm here," Paige said.

"Thanks."

The rest of the drive back to the house was silent. Every now and then Emily would feel Paige's eyes on her, but she never spoke. When they pulled into the driveway, Christine was coming back from the barn, carrying a container of milk.

"Hey girls. How was your first day?"

"Good," they said in unison. Christine's eyes landed on Emily, sensing that there was something wrong, but she didn't say anything. They headed up to their rooms to get started on their homework. Emily started on her math and chemistry work. They took a break for dinner, before returning to their homework. Although none of their assignments were due until the end of the week, Emily learned that Paige liked to get her work done earlier so that she'd have more free time for swimming and other such things.

"Hey," Emily heard Paige's voice echo from the door way.

"Hey," Emily replied, looking from the paper she was attempting to write. She was able to create a generic "about me" paper that seemed to meet her expectations, but the challenge and how she overcame it was harder than she thought. Every challenged she'd encounter somehow could be traced back to Rosewood, and if it could be traced back to Rosewood, then they would be able to find her.

"You've been staring at the piece of paper for the last hour, but haven't written anything," Paige said, glancing at the paper.

"Have you been spying on me?" Emily asked with a quirk of the brow. Paige didn't answer, so she took that as a 'yes'.

"I'm just checking, you seemed a little stressed this afternoon. I know that this is all a big change and everything…I-I just wanted to make sure that you were okay," Paige said, taking a few steps into Emily's room.

"I'm fine," Emily said, rubbing her temples. "It's just hard to hide everything I've ever known, and become this completely different person. I was supposed to be swim captain of my team, hanging out with the friends I've grown up with, going to parties, living a normal life, and now…I'm sitting on a farm, in an unfamiliar place, surrounded by unfamiliar people. I'm asked to write these papers about myself, and challenges I've had to overcome, but I can't write about my life or else the people will find me and kill me!" Emily said, getting worked up. She quickly realized that she'd let out more than she intended and covered her mouth as if to take back the words.

"Is someone trying to hurt you?" Paige asked worried.

"I need some air," Emily said, rushing past Paige. She heard Paige shout her name, but she was already out of the front door.

Emily found herself outside the barn. She took a seat and leaned against the horse's pen. She heard Alfie get up and come closer. She felt him nudge her with his nose.

"Hey Alfie," Emily laughed, running his hand through Alfie's mane. "You're not that scary…" Alfie rested his head on Emily's shoulder, making her smile. "You know…I think you're probably the only one I can talk to…probably because you're a horse and can't talk…you know what's funny Alfie." Emily let out a small laugh. "You know; I haven't talk to any of my friends since I left. I keep thinking about what they're doing…are they living the dream? Or are they living in misery? Sometimes I wish that none of this would have happened to me…"

Paige stood in Emily's room, looking at the piece of paper. There were only two words written on it, why me? She held the paper in her hands before hurry out of the house to find Emily. She glanced around, it was too dark for Emily to get to the lake. She spotted a figure in the barn and quickly hurried towards it. She stopped near the entrance when she heard Emily's voice. "I don't even remember how all of this happen. One minute I'm sitting at home, and then the next minute someone's trying to run me over with their car. Do you think that if I'd stay everything would be okay?"

"No," Paige said, interrupting Emily's train of thought.

"Paige…what are you doing?" Emily asked, surprised. Paige held up the piece of paper, that Emily recognized.

"Why me?" Paige said reading the paper. "Why you, Emily? Who's trying to hurt you?"

"Paige…"

"Look, I know that things haven't been easy for you. I get it, trying to pick of the pieces after they've been broken over and over again. It's tiring, and sometimes, you just don't know how to go on…"

"How could you possibly know? Did someone try to run you over with a car? Did your dad die right before he was supposed to come home? Did your life get uprooted because someone's trying to kill you?" Emily asked, angrily.

"I know what you're going through is hard, I get."

"How could you possibly get it," Emily said frustrated. "How?"

"I just do, okay. Some things I'm not ready to share, just like you. My situation may be different, but I understand, okay?"

"I'm sorry," Emily said, letting her head fall into her hands. "I'm just so angry, frustrated…confused."

"I know," Paige said, wrapping her arms around Emily. "I know."

"How did you get passed it?"

"Get pass why it was me?" Paige probed. Emily nodded. "You know; I believe everything happens for a reason. Some times what happens is good or it's bad. What happened to me, happened for a reason. It's made me into the person I am today. They say that time heals everything. Sometimes it's true, and sometimes you just keep waiting. Only you can decide when it's time to stop waiting and come to terms with what's happened. I know I have no business asking what happened, and you don't have to tell me, but I don't want to sit by and watch whatever's going on consume you."

"I'm sorry, Paige," Emily said, pulling away from Paige.

"It's okay…" Paige said, taking a few steps back.

They sat there for a few minutes, in silence. Emily was still processing what Paige had just said. She wanted to believe that everything happened for a reason, but there was something about it that made it so she couldn't.

"Hey," Paige said, breaking the long silence. "Do you like ice cream?"

"What?" Emily asked, surprised.

"Ice cream…Do you like it?"

"Yeah, why?" Emily asked confused.

She watched as Paige got up from her seat and went over to fridge. She disappeared for a minute before reappearing, holding a plastic container and two spoons. She took a seat next to Emily on the barn floor and opened the container.

"Your family makes ice cream too?" Emily asked, looking at the green ice cream.

"It's a family recipe," Paige said, dipping her spoon into the container. "It's mint chocolate chip. I hope that's okay."

"It's perfect," Emily said, accepting the spoonful of ice cream. "Thank you."


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6**

Emily spent the next few weeks doing everything with Paige. Neither of them minded each other's company. The only time they weren't together was when they were at school or Paige was working or at swim practice. Emily made a few more friends and spent her lunches with Sam. Emily found it easier to adapt to her new life with the help of Paige. Paige somehow made everything easier. She would do the littlest of things that would put a smile on Emily's face. Sometimes on Friday nights Paige would record a new episode of Emily's favorite TV shows and they'd sit down and watch them together. Or they'd used some of the milk and make a batch of ice cream together.

"Hey, I got you something," Paige said, entering Emily's room.

"What?"

"This," Paige said, holding out a key.

"What's this?" Emily asked taking the key from Paige.

"It's a key to my car."

"Paige…You know I can't take this…"

"I know…but it's hard to get around here…and I figured if there was ever an emergency or we needed someone to drive, you could…I know you feel trapped here sometimes, so I guess this is a way out of it."

"Thank you," Emily said, placing the key in the desk drawer.

"Anyways, someone called the house for you."

"Who?" Emily asked, panicked.

"Uh, Spencer Hastings. She said she's a friend of yours and to call her back."

"Okay."

"Yeah. She left her number downstairs."

"Thanks."

"Yeah. I'll, uh, see you later then?"

"Date night?"

"Yeah, we haven't had one in a while, so…" Paige said, blushing slightly.

"Don't have too much fun," Emily laughed.

"Hey!"

"Go! Have a _lovely_ night."

"Yeah, yeah," Paige laughed as she left. "I'll see you later."

Emily headed downstairs a few minutes later. There was a piece of paper next to the phone with Spencer's name and her number written down. Christine was in the kitchen cleaning up dinner, when she caught sight of Emily looking at the piece of paper.

"So... are you going to call them back?" she asked.

"How did they get your number?"

"I'm not sure. Our number is in your file, but only a few have access to it."

"Did she say anything specific? Like something to make sure it's her."

"She said that when you two were little you would always go up to her lake house and something about SHEA."

The SHEA quartet was something that the four of them came up with when they were growing up. Spencer, Hanna, Emily, and Aria. No one else knew about it, except the four of them. Emily quickly picked up the phone and dialed.

"Hello?" A voice answered.

"What the was the name of my first animal?" Emily asked, making sure that it was Spencer.

"Your first animal was a dog, name Bella, but your first animal was a fish name Curly, but he only lived for like two days and you were too sad to get rid of him so I had to flush him down the toilet for you."

"Spence," Emily sighed, realizing that it was Spencer.

"Em, god it's good to hear your voice," Spencer said, happily.

"Likewise. Spence, how did you get my number? And have you talked to the others?"

"I asked Caleb for a favor," Spencer replied. "I talked to the others. You are the only one we haven't heard from. Have you talked to your mom?"

"Yeah, I call her ever week. So…uh…how are you?"

"I've been better. It's weird trying to live a whole different life. It's nothing like I would have expected."

"I hear ya. What about the others?"

"They're okay. Aria's in a house full of boys. She says it like testosterone nation and at least one of them tries to hit on her a day. And Hanna, well, you know Hanna, she trying to function without the use of social media and fancy clothes. I think we'll all pull through eventually."

"Have you heard anything on the case?"

"My mom said that there have been a few leads, but nothing solid yet. Don't worry. I'm sure they're doing everything they can."

"I know."

"Anyways, how are you, for real?"

"I'm exhausted to be honest. This whole situation is wearing me out."

"Well, what's the family like that you're staying with?"

"They're good. I really like them. They've got a farm with animals and everything. But it's just not— "

"Not home?"

"Yeah…"

"Well, we'll be back together soon," Spencer said, hopefully.

"I hope so."

"I'll talk to you soon, okay?"

"Okay."

"Take care of yourself."

"I will. You too." The line went dead. Emily glanced at the phone, before placing it back in the receiver. It felt strange to hear a voice of a friend she'd known for years for the first time in months. She'd almost forgotten what Spencer's voice sounded like, let alone the rest of her friends.

"Good to hear a familiar voice?" Christine asked.

"Yeah…it is," Emily said, smiling.

"Have you talked to any of your other friends and family?"

"Only my mom."

"How is she?"

"She's good…I think. She's lonely with my dad being gone and what not."

"Your mother's a strong woman."

"I know…"

"Well, get some rest okay? We've got a lot of work to do tomorrow."

Emily made her way back up to her room and began to get ready for bed. It was 11:30, when Emily heard Paige returned. Only this time she heard two sets of footsteps. She heard laughs and muffled voices for a few minutes before silence.

Emily heard the sound of her alarm clock echo throughout her room. She quickly rolled out of bed and headed towards the bathroom. Emily could see that the lights were already on in Paige's room. She heard muffled sounds before she heard footsteps heading down the hallway.

A few minutes later, Paige opened the door, surprised to see Emily standing there, toothbrush in mouth, surprised.

"Hi," Paige squeaked, rushing past Emily and grabbing her toothbrush.

"Was that someone else I heard in your room?" Emily asked.

"What? Uh, no…" Paige said, busying herself.

"Okay…whatever you say," Emily said, smiling before walking out of the bathroom.

Emily finished getting dressed before heading downstairs and taking seat at the table. Christine was already in the kitchen cooking breakfast, which meant that she must have seen Paige's boyfriend leave, which mean that she must know who Paige's boyfriend is too.

Paige joined them a few minutes later. Emily gave her a beaming smile, which was returned by a confused Paige. They ate quietly before heading out and doing the morning chores. Paige and Nick worked the field, while Christine and Emily did the barn work.

Emily had efficiently learned to milk and groom the cows, which made their work twice as easy. She groomed the horses tended to the chickens, while Christine milked the cows. Emily had grown to love the horses, although she was still terrified of riding them. Paige had tried to convince her many times, but Emily always said no.

It was a little after one when they decided to break for lunch. Emily grabbed a sandwich and joined Paige on the porch.

"I heard you were quite the horse groomer today," Paige said, taking a bit out of her sandwich.

"Well, I guess I had a great teacher."

"Oh yeah, well maybe you'll let your great teacher teach you how to ride a horse."

"Ha, nice try," Emily laughed. "Try again next week."

"I'll try every day, until you say 'yes'."

"You might be trying for a while," Emily said, trying to hide her smile.

"I think we've got time."

They finished lunch and returned to the field. Nick and Paige took the horses out for a short ride, before joining them in the fields. The fall crop was in mid-sprout. Emily spent most of her time weeding the rows, while Christine examined all the crops to make sure that were healthy.

It was a little after seven when they gathered their things and headed inside for the day. Emily's back ached from bending over and picking weeds. She spent all of dinner trying to find a comfortable position to sit in.

"Back hurt?" Paige asked, following Emily up the stairs.

"How'd you know?"

"Trust me. I've been doing this for a while."

"Yeah…it's killing me. How knew bending over could hurt so much?"

"Take a long shower. Trust me, you'll feel a whole lot better."

"Thanks for the advice, master guru," Emily laughed, heading into the shower.

Emily took Paige's advice and took a long hot shower. The pain in her back subsided a little, but she knew she'd be sore in the morning.

"Feeling better?" Paige asked, leaning against the bathroom door.

"You could say that," Emily said sitting up from her bed.

"Well, I have something for you."

"Paige if you keep getting me things—"

"I'm technically not getting you anything because I haven't spent any money…"

"Paige, you know what I mean…"

"Yeah, and that's why I got you something," Paige said, happily. "Here." Paige handed Emily a stack of DVDs. Emily began to flip through them when she realized that they were all romantic comedies, including some of her favorites. "You said you like romantic comedies, and I know that it's been a rough couple of months. I thought that maybe we could watch one, seeing is I've never seen one, and you love them…it might be like a homey sense."

"I don't have a player for these."

"I don't worry; I've got that covered. I've got a player and TV in my room."

"Paige as much as I would love to…I'm not sitting on your bed until I know your sheets are clean."

"Really, Em?" Paige asked, trying to hide a laugh.

"Really. I don't know what you do in your bed."

"Ew…Em! Alright," Paige said, laughing. "I'll bring them in here, then."

"Great!" Emily smiled.

She flipped through the movies deciding which one of them to watch, while Paige carried in her TV and player.

"So what are we watching?"

"How about Silver Linings Playbook?"

"Sure, what's it about?"

"It based on this book, where this guy who has bipolar disorder and tries to get back with his ex-wife, but he meets this widowed woman who gets him to do this dance competition with him. And you know, they fall in love, blah, blah, blah. It's funny. Hopefully you'll like it."

Paige took a seat next to Emily on her bed, and waited for Emily to press play. Sure enough, Emily saw Paige laughing within minutes. She laughed throughout the entire movie, making Emily smile.

"Okay, you've officially convinced me," Paige said, laughing, when the credits began rolling.

"Yes!" Emily laughed, fisting bumping the air.

"I don't think I've laughed that much during a movie ever."

"Well, I've got about five more that will make you laugh," Emily said, picking up the movies. "By the way, how did you get these?"

"Library at school," Paige smiled.

"How about we watch another, and maybe I'll consider getting on a horse tomorrow," Emily said, hopping off the bed.

"You'll consider or you will."

"I'll consider," Emily laughed.

"Alright, I'll take it," Paige laughed.

Emily put in the next movie before joining Paige on the bed. Paige was typing out a text message. She caught a brief glimpse of the message and who she was sending it too. S…something, and _I'm exhausted…em and I are just staying in watchin a few movies…_

"So, what are we watching next?"

"A classic, Down with Love," Emily said, pressing play.

Paige phone buzzed again. Emily turned to see the message, it only read, _again…Paige…really_

"Trouble in paradise," Emily asked, when she noticed that Paige had been staring at the message for a while.

"What…uh…" Paige said, distracted, before quickly putting her phone down. "Uh, no, it's just a misunderstanding, I guess."

"Do you wanna talk about it?"

"Nah, let's just watch the movie. What's this one about?" Paige asked, changing the subject.


	7. Chapter 7

It was the third weekend in September when Emily found herself up before the moon disappeared. She joined Paige in the bathroom, both too tired to speak. Breakfast was on the table when they reached the kitchen. Christine had made extra and had set up another table set with six additional plates.

Emily spotted two children fast asleep on the couch. Maggie was in the kitchen helping Christine with the breakfast.

"Oh, good morning girls," Christine said in a low voice, quiet voice.

"Morning," they replied in unison.

"With all these extra hands, we may be able to finish the job today," Christine said, hopefully.

"How long does it usually take?" Emily asked.

"With the three of us, it usually takes about four days. But Mike and Phil are old enough to help us with the crops with year and we've got Emily, so three extra set of hands will make the work go a lot faster."

They all sat down and ate their breakfast quietly. It was around four when they all tromped out to the fields. Nick had set up some lights to illuminate the fields. Paige and Emily took Mike and harvested the carrots. Christine harvested the rest of the tomatoes, cucumbers, and squash. Maggie and Phil picked cotton. Nick and Harvey, Maggie's husband, worked the tractor and harvested the wheat and corn.

Emily was surprised by how many things the McCullers's grew on their farm. They didn't own that much land, but they were able to harvest quite a lot. At the end of the day, they gathered all of the grains and vegetables that they harvest and place them in their trucks.

Maggie and Harvey, took as much as they could get into their car, before leaving. Paige and Nick hauled hay bales into the barn, and the rest into the truck.

"So, once you've harvested all of these, what do you do next?" Emily asked, carrying a few crates of tomatoes.

"Well, we didn't harvest everything. Some of the crops aren't ripe yet, so we usually end up keeping those for ourselves. But tomorrow, they have a farmer's market a few towns over that we go to, whatever isn't sold we either keep or give to shelters," Christine replied.

"And this is all just a side business."

"Yup. It's a past time for Nick, and I grew up working on a farm."

"So what do you do with all the money you make?"

"We put everything into savings, spilt between our retirement and Paige's college fund."

"College…" Emily hadn't even though about college yet. She'd had a few places in mind that she wanted to apply to, mainly for swimming.

"Have you thought about where you want to go?"

"A few places I wanted to go for swimming, but I don't know if college is even on the tables anymore."

"Tell me about them?" Christine said, taking a seat on the porch.

"Well…Stanford was looking to recruit me for swimming, but ever since this happened…I don't know if they even know what happened. Then there's a local college near Rosewood, Hollis. And Pepperdine."

"You know, even if you can't swim there, you can always apply there."

"I know, but I don't even know how I'm supposed to do that. We never discuss college with the detectives. Am I supposed to be Woods or Fields…am I supposed to live here or there…"

"How about I make a few calls and see what I can do?"

"Oh, you don't have to—"

"I want to Emily. It's the least that I can do for you," she said, giving Emily a warm smile.

"Thank you."

"You know; Paige was looking at Stanford."

"Really?" Emily asked, turning her gaze to Paige. She was shoveling hay for the horses.

"Yeah."

"She'd love it there."

"I know she would, but even if she was accepted. I don't think she'd go…"

"Why's that?"

"Paige's worried that if she left, we'd have trouble keeping up with the work on the farm."

"But, you want her to go if she gets in?" Christine nodded.

"Whenever Paige talks about getting away, she gets this glow about her. I want her to live her life the way she wants to live it, and I know that her life isn't here."

"Paige feels a sense of obligation here…"

"She does. Her life hasn't exactly been easy, and I think a little adventure would do her some good…"

"Is she giving you one of her lectures?" Paige asked, approaching the two of them.

"You could say that," Emily laughed.

"Well, I'll let you two enjoy the rest of your night. Try not to stay up too, late, we've got an early morning tomorrow."

"So…any fun plans for tonight?" Emily asked.

"Nope, you got me all to yourself."

"Alright," Emily smiled. "What'd you wanna do?"

"How about—" the sound of Paige's phone ringing, interrupted whatever she was about to ask. "Hello?...I can't toni—…I know…listen…we've talked about this, you can—" Paige walked away before Emily could catch the rest of the conversation. From the looks of it, it looked like Paige was having an argument with the person on the other end of the phone. She didn't catch the caller's name but she assumed it was Paige's boyfriend.

Paige came back a few minutes later, slightly teary-eyed. She took a seat next to Emily, but remained quiet.

"Do you wanna talk about it?"

"Not really," Paige murmured.

"Did you two break up?" Paige shook her head. "Okay, well if you wanna talk, I'm here."

"I know," Paige smiled. "How about we eat some ice cream, maybe watch a movie or something?"

"Sure, I'll, uh, grab the ice cream," Emily said, heading towards the barn.

When Emily made her way back upstairs, she found Paige lying in bed, looking up at the white ceiling.

"You okay? Emily asked.

"Yeah. I'm just thinking…"

"Maybe this might help with that…I, uh, grabbed the cookie dough one."

"Oh, that's one of my favorites," Paige said, grabbing a spoonful of ice cream.

"So…movie?"

"How about talking?" Paige suggested.

"Okay, we can talk. What do you want to talk about?"

"Anything. We've being living together for what, like three months, but I feel like I hardly know you. All I really know about you is from 12 years ago, and the fact that you like romantic comedies."

"I guess I don't know a lot about you either."

"What do you know?" Emily bit the bottom on her lip debating of whether or not to ask the question she'd been asking for a while.

"That night, when I was upset and angry, you said you understood…what did you mean by that?" Paige took a deep, breathe. "You don't have to tell me."

"Seven years ago, I was in a car accident," Paige said, glancing at Emily.

"Is that why you have all the scars," Emily asked, tracing one on Paige's knee.

"The whole front end of the car was smashed in. It crushed my legs. And, uh, part of the car door, hit my back." That's why Paige had the scar on her back.

"I'm so sorry."

"I spent five months in the hospital, had eleven different surgeries," Paige said, quietly. "Look at me now." Paige let out a soft laugh before looking at Emily. "That's not even the worse part. The girl who was driving, my babysitter, died in the crash, and her parents felt obligated to pay my medical bills. They've been trying to make ends meet ever since."

"Paige, you can't beat yourself up over that."

"I watched her family fall apart. My parents have been trying to make it up to them ever since."

"So that's why you feel obligated to stay?"

"So that's what you and my mom were taking about?" Paige let out a laugh. "After everything that family's been through. I can't…I can't just leave them."'

"I'm sure that the family appreciates everything that you've done for them."

"Em, I destroyed their life…"

"No you didn't Paige…you could never do that. For as long as I've known you, you've made people smile, laugh."

"You know, the one thing that I want in the world…I can't have…" Paige said glancing into Emily's eyes.

"What's that?"

"Uh, you know it's getting really late," Paige said, changing the subject. "We should probably get some sleep."

"Yeah, you're right," Emily said, realizing that maybe there weren't close enough for Paige to tell her.

Paige gathered her things, said a 'good-night' to Emily, before returning to her room. Emily tried to sleep that night, but Paige's words played on repeat in her head, _"the one thing I want in the world, I can't have…"_ What was so important to Paige that she couldn't have? Was it to have her babysitter back? Or was it something more than that?

Emily felt herself being shaken away the next morning. When everything finally came into view, Paige was leaning over her.

"Paige?"

"Hey. Time to get up," Paige said.

"Already."

"Unfortunately. Get dressed." Emily quickly threw on shorts and a t-shirt, before heading downstairs. Paige was waiting downstairs.

"Ready?" Emily nodded. "Where are your parents?"

"They left about a half hour ago. They usually leave early to get the tent set up." Paige started up her engine and backed out of the driveway. "Oh, here." Paige offered Emily a bagel. "I just made it."

"Thanks."

"If your still hungry, we usually buy lunch at the market. They've got amazing vendors."

About an hour later, they pulled up into a larger open area. Paige backed her truck up next to the parents. They had already set up a few tables and a tent. They started carrying the crates, scales, bags, until everything was unloaded.

"Paige, would you mind running to the bank and grabbing some cash."

"Sure thing."

"Emily, could you help me organize everything?" Christine asked. Emily nodded.

By the time Paige returned, and everything was organized, people started flooded the open lot. Emily sat back and watched the McCullers interact with their customers, bagging their food, counting their change.

"What are you smiling at" Paige asked, noticing that Emily had been smiling at her for the past few minutes.

"What? Uh, nothing?" Emily said, quickly releasing her smile.

"Sure…" Paige laughed.

"You just…look happy," Emily admitted. A warm smile appeared on Paige's lips.

"I think I'll be happier when I see you on a horse," Paige joked.

"Ask me again tomorrow," Emily laughed.

It was around three when the rest of the vendors started to pack up their things. There were only a few crates of vegetables and grains left. They split the rest equally into three cars. Christine drove her food to some shelters, while Nick took his back to the house.

"So, what do you do with your food?" Emily asked, getting in the passenger seat.

"I give it to Maggie and her family."

"You do a lot for them," Emily said.

"Yeah, they're like family to me."

When they pulled up into the Harrison's driveway, Maggie was sitting outside on their porch. A few of her kids were playing out in the front yard.

"Paige, Emily, how was the market?" Maggie asked, getting up from her chair.

"Good. Biggest turnout I've seen yet," Paige smiled. "I brought food by. I hope that's okay." Emily got the hint that Maggie had no idea that Paige was bringing food by.

"Of course."

"Em, help me bring these inside."

Emily helped Paige carry the rest of the crates inside. She waited in the kitchen for Paige to finish talking with Maggie. Her eyes wondered around the house. It was homey, and warm, just like the McCullers. There were pictures hung up all around the house. She recognized all of Maggie's children. There were even some pictures of Paige on the wall.

There was a picture of a girl that Emily didn't recognize, although she looked exactly like Maggie. She couldn't be older than them.

"Em?" Paige asked, pulling Emily from her gaze. "Ready to go?"

"Uh, yeah," Emily said, taking one more glance at the photo. Emily remained silent until they reached the house. Paige must have noticed, because she broke the silence when they reached their rooms.

"You okay? You've been quiet ever since we left."

"Yeah…I'm okay. There was a picture of a girl on their wall that I didn't recognize. She looks our age."

"Rachel," Paige said, sadly.

"Where is she?"

"Uh…she, uh," Paige said, trying to find her words. "She died a few years ago."

"They're the family aren't they…" Emily said, connecting the dots. Paige didn't answer, instead she took a seat next to Emily.

"It was raining…we were coming back from the movies…I don't remember what happened. One minute we're singing along to our favorite song, and then the next minute I can't feel my legs…They said it was a drunk driver who hit us."

"I'm so sorry Paige."

"They're such an amazing family. I try to do everything I can to make sure they can make ends meet. I give them extra food, milk, clothes. I watch over their kids; try to be the big sister they'll never have. I just feel like it's not enough sometimes."

"You know, every time I see you playing with her kids, a smile appears on her face. You did that. You made her smile; you make her kids smile…to make someone happy, after so much sadness. That's the ultimate gift to be given, and you gave it. You said you believe that everything happens for a reason. Maybe this was supposed to happen…"

"Maybe..."


	8. Chapter 8

**Hey guys! I hope you enjoyed the last chapter! I know that this is a slow paily romance. I don't know when Paily is actually going to happen, i haven't written that far ahead. Would you guys prefer if I started added a little bit of Paily here and there or would you like it if it if started to build up and then come all at once? I was going to try and make Paily happen within the next couple of chapters, but who knows. I want your feedback on the topic.**

 **ENJOY!**

 **Chapter 8**

The crisp fall air nipped at Emily's cheeks as she stood in the middle of field, while Paige rode Alfie around her. She watched them gallop and trout around.

"You sure you don't want to try?"

"If I say 'yes' will you stop bothering me," Emily laughed.

"Yes!" Paige smiled, dismounting Alfie. "Come here."

Emily stood next to Alfie and stroked his coarse hairs. He neighed, before turning and looking at her.

"Please don't throw me off," Emily whispered to Alfie. "Please."

"Alright, you've seen me mount the horse, right?" Emily nodded. "Cool, just place your foot here and swing your leg over."

Emily placed her foot in the stirrup, before swinging her left leg over the saddle. She felt Paige rested a gentle hand on Emily thigh, but she quickly removed it.

"Just make sure I don't fall off…"

"I'd never let that happen," Paige smiled. "Don't worry, just hold onto the horn."

Emily wrapped both hands around the horn, and held tightly while Paige motioned for Alfie to take his first steps. They started off slow, with Paige walking Alfie around in a circle.

"See, not so bad."

"Yeah…" Emily hesitated, still concerned for her safety. "Aren't you going to be late for your meet?"

"We've got a few minutes," Paige laughed. "Alfie. Let's show Emily what you got."

"What, no, no, no, that's okay," Emily pleaded.

"Don't worry. He's not going to hurt you. Just breathe," Paige said, placing the reins in Emily's hands.

"Alfie, back to the barn," Paige commanded.

Emily felt Alfie start to pick up speed underneath her. She gripped the reins tighter, but Alfie seemed to sense her hesitation and slowed down. He trotted into the barn and into her pen. Paige appeared a few minutes later.

"Look, you're alive, and…wait…what's that I see?" Paige said, looking closely at Emily. "Is that a smile?"

"Maybe," Emily said, quickly dismounting Alfie.

"See…it wasn't so bad…"

"I guess not."

"So, you're coming to the meet, right?"

"Of course. It's the first race of the season. I wouldn't miss it."

"Alright, let me go grab my things," Paige said, disappearing into the house.

About an hour later, Emily joined Christine and Nick in the stands. She spotted Paige coming out of the locker room a few minutes later, dressed in her warm-up. Her hair was carefully tucked into her swim cap, with her goggles securely fasten on her forehead.

Emily watched Paige dove into the water, and started her warm-ups. Paige cut through the water so smoothly. She'd never seen anything like it; it was as if Paige was one with the water. That's what Emily missed the most, feeling the water rush past her. The adrenaline courses through her veins.

She watched the event tick by, and Paige speed through the water. Paige swam anchor in almost all the relays, and swam a few individual events, all of which she placed first or second in. She was so surprised to see that Paige, the girl who was afraid of water, seems to just flow with it.

"Wow, Paige, you were incredible," Emily shouted, pulling Paige into a hug.

"Thanks."

"And I can't believe you were afraid of water…" Emily laughed.

"Yeah, kinda hard to believe. Listen. I'm just gonna shower really quick. I'll meet you out by the car?"

"Yeah, sounds good."

Emily waited out by the car for about half an hour in the bed of Paige's truck reading through one of her school books. She knew that even she couldn't take that long to shower and get ready. She waited a few more minutes before she decided to head back into the school. She found her way to the locker room. There were a few lights on.

"Paige?" Nothing. She walked further into the locker room and heard the sound of a shower. "Paige?" Still nothing. She rounded the corner of the locker room, before she heard a loud moan, and then another. She heard someone cry out Paige's name with passion, but it wasn't a man's voice. She glanced around the corner, and spotted Paige and another girl in shower. She recognized the girl as Shana, one of Paige's friends, but Shana was…kissing Paige…and Paige was kissing back.

She turned on her heels and ran before anyone noticed she was there. What had she just witness? Paige was cheating on her boyfriend with another girl. Emily's heart was racing. Something about the situation made Emily's heart skip a beat, but she shook it off as the nerves building up inside.

She took a few deep breaths trying to calm herself. She tried to steady her shaky hands, but couldn't. About ten minutes later, she spotted Paige coming out of the school. She shoved her hands in her pocket, and took some more breaths, before putting a fake smile on her face.

"Hey, sorry, it took so long," Paige said, unlocking her car. "I got distracted."

"No worries," Emily said, trying to mask her lie.

"You hungry?" Paige asked. "There's this great diner on the way home. I don't know about you, but I'm starving…"

"Yeah. I could eat," Emily lied.

"You sure you okay? You seem a little off?" Paige asked, noticing Emily's tone in voice.

"I'm fine," Emily lied again. "I guess I just miss the water."

"Well, I'd be happy to bring you here whenever you want," Paige said, trying to brighten the mood.

"Cool."

Emily tried to keep her emotions straight in the passing weeks, but every time she saw Paige with Shana, she suddenly felt sick. Did Paige's boyfriend even know? It wasn't until the beginning of November that Paige finally realized that something was up with Emily.

"Hey, Em, you busy?" Paige asked, standing the doorway.

"Uh, no, why?"

"Shana and I are going to movies. Do you want to come?"

"Uh, I can't. I need to finish this paper…" Emily said, turning her attention back to her paper.

"Okay, something's up," Paige said, entering Emily's room and taking a seat on her bed.

"Nothing's up, Paige. I just need to finish this." Emily said, trying to avoid eye contact.

"Okay," Paige said, putting her hands up in defense

"Okay…"

"Okay," Paige said again, before leaving Emily's room.

Emily heard Paige's footsteps hit every stair. There was the sound of a truck starting, and then nothing. It was quiet. Emily let the breath that she'd been holding in out. She got up from her seat and started to pace around the room, before she found herself standing in the middle of Paige's room.

She'd never paid too much attention to Paige's room. She looked around the room. The walls of Paige's room were the shade said of light blue as Emily's. She had a swimming poster of Michael Phelps at the 2008 Olympics, and one of Wilson Pickett, a singer. There were only three pictures in Paige's room. One of her and Shana, one of her and Rachel when they were little, and one of her and…Emily. Emily picked up the picture from its resting position. Her fingers ran over the glass pane. They couldn't have been more than four, Paige was missing both her front teeth, but she was still smiling and laughing with an arm wrapped tightly around Emily.

Emily tried to remember that moment, but it was all fuzzy. Whatever they were doing, they were happy. They used to tell each other everything when they were little, and now she wasn't sure that she knew Paige at all anymore.

She took one more glance around Paige's room, before returning to her own. She took the time and finished the paper she was working on. It was around eleven, when she heard Paige climbing up the stairs. Paige must have seen the light on in Emily's room, because she heard a soft knock a few minutes later.

"Em, you awake?" Emily sat froze in her seat. "Look, I get it if you don't want to talk to me, but whatever I said or did to make you upset…I'm sorry."

Emily heard Paige's footsteps once again, but this time they descended the stairs instead of going into her room. She heard the front door open, then close. From her window, she was able to make out Paige's shadow heading towards the barn.

Emily thought about confronting Paige. She knew that nothing good could come of it, but she couldn't let this weigh on her anymore. She grabbed a sweatshirt and shoes before following Paige out to the barn.

When Emily reached the entrance of the barn, she saw Paige sitting on the pen with Alfie's head resting on her thighs. Paige's fingers ran gently through Alfie's hair.

"Are you just gonna stand there or are you going to say something?" Paige asked, keeping her focus on Alfie.

"What do you want to me say?" Emily asked. Paige turned to face her.

"I don't know, something, anything…" Paige pleaded. "I really hate this whole radio silence treatment."

"Who's Shana?" Emily asked.

"What?" Paige asked, confused. "Is that what this is about?"

"Shana? Who is she?" Emily asked again.

"Shana my friend. You met her…" Paige said, still confused by the question. "

"I know that…"

"Then what's this about?"

"Do you consider yourself an honest person?"

"Most of the time. Why?" Paige swung around the pen and fully face Emily. She stuck her hands in the pocket in of her sweatshirt. "Look if there's something that's bothering you…just say it…"

"I saw you…"

"You saw me…what?" Paige inquired. "Doing something stupid? Saying something inappropriate? Listen in on something I wasn't supposed to lis—"

"I saw you with Shana, in the showers," Emily cut in. She watched Paige fall silent. Her head dropped and she pinched the bridge of her nose before looking at Emily once again. "I thought you said that you were an honest person…"

"Emily, it's not like that…"

"Really, because it looked pretty obvious with her screaming your name." Emily felt her cheeks heat up. Her mind flashed back to the scene she had witness.

"Em—"

"Does he even know?" Emily asked, angrily. "What is so bad about him that you have to go and fuck your friend? Huh? Not to mention Shana's a girl."

"Look, it's not like that," Paige said, trying to explain herself.

"Oh really, because it looks exactly like that," Emily pointed out. "What benefit does it have to cheat? What could you possibly gain from cheat—"

"There is no boyfriend Emily!" Paige said, raising her voice. Emily did a double take, looking at Paige as if she'd heard her right.

"What?"

"I haven't cheated on anyone, because there was no boyfriend."

"You lied to me…" Emily felt her voice crack.

Paige chews on her lips for a few seconds before answering. "Look…this isn't how I wanted you to find out," Paige admitted. "I wanted to tell you. I'm sorry."

"And Shana?" Emily asked. "Who's Shana?" Paige took a deep breath, her eyes wondering around the barn, before landing on Emily.

"Shana…" Paige let out a small laugh before continuing. "Shana's… my girlfriend." There was a long silence between the two. Emily stood there, conflicted, trying to process everything that had just happened. "Please…say something…anything…" Paige pleaded.

"You're gay?" was all Emily could say. Paige nodded. "How long?"

"How long have I known? Or how long have I been with Shana?" Emily didn't answer. "I've known since I was 11."

"And Shana?"

"We've been together for almost two years…"

"How could you lie to me?"

"I'm sorry, but sometimes this town isn't as welcoming as it looks," Paige confessed. "I spent years being bullied. It wasn't until I hit high school that people stopped. I had to be careful who I was friends with, how I acted. It took years to find people I could trust, who didn't care who I was or who I dated. So forgive me, if I lie every once and a while to fit in." Emily heard the harsh tone in Paige's last few words. "You don't know what that's like, to want to be yourself, but can't."

"You right, I don't," Emily said, sadly. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have called you out," Emily said, realizing everything she'd accused Paige of.

"You were curious, I get it," Paige said, dismissively.

"I didn't mean to put pressure on you…"

"I know. I'm sorry I lied. It's just you asked if I had a boyfriend, and I just rolled with it," Paige admitted.

"I'm sorry I walked in on you and Shana."

"Hey, it's happens. I just hope you didn't see much," Paige said, letting out a soft laugh.

"Don't worry. I was more worried about the hearing," Emily laughed.

"So we're good?"

"Yeah," Emily said, smiling. "Yeah, we're good."

"Good, then you'd say yes to ice cream?" Paige asked, warmly.

"Who could say no to ice cream?" Emily laughed."

"And a horse ride?"

"Ah, don't get your hopes up just yet."

"Alright," Paige laughed. "Just ice cream."


	9. Chapter 9

**So from the comments/feedback that I got everyone wants Paily now, which I am happy to start! This is the essential chapter for the story, but after this I swear I'll start Paily. Thanks for your patience. I really hope you guys like this chapter. I apologize in advance for spelling/grammar errors in this chapter. I didn't have a lot of time for proof-read.**

 **Let me know that you think!**

 **Chapter 9**

Emily felt the snow hit her face. It was cold, but warm. The snow fell all around her, outlining her body. It rarely snowed in Georgia, but there were a few inches settled around her. Christmas was just around the corner. Christmas carols were sung around school before break, Secret Santa's were exchanged, but nothing would bring back her father.

The sound of crunching snow brought her out of her thoughts. She opened an eye and saw Paige standing directly above her, smiling.

"Hey, mind if I join you," Paige asked. Emily nodded and Paige laid down next to her. "You okay?"

"Why wouldn't I be?" Emily asked, turning to look at Paige.

"I don't know, you've just been out here for a few hours, staring up at the sky."

"You know Christmas was my dad's favorite holiday." Emily raked her fingers through the snow, tossing it up in the air. "Every Christmas, my mom and I would decorate the house, and every Christmas my dad would come home."

"Em…" Paige said, sympathetically.

"I'm sorry…" Emily said, letting out a small laugh. "I know it's naïve, but I just never imagined a Christmas without either of them."

"It's okay to be sad, to grieve…" Paige said, reaching for Emily's hand. "You've been through a lot, more than any person your age should."

"It's been two years, but it still feels like yesterday that all this happened."

"When Rachel died…I'd use to wake up every day, reliving it in nightmares…it took years for me wake up without seeing her laying next to me. The nightmares became less frequently. I still get them, but I know that…there's nothing that I could have done to change the outcome. I know it must be different when it's a parent, but you will get past this, and soon that hurting feeling will just become a memory, but it's important to remember the happiness, not saddest, moments you shared. Don't let you mind get stuck on that one memory…"

"How do you always know what to say?"

"I guess I've just been through a lot too," Paige said, giving Emily's hand a squeeze. "You'll get through this, I promise."

"Have I ever told you how glad I am to have you?" Emily said, nestling closer to Paige.

"I guess the feelings mutual," Paige chuckled. "Com'on, you got some shopping to do."

"Wait," Emily said, pulling Paige back down. "Can we just lay here for a few more minutes?"

"Of course," Paige said, wrapping her arms around Emily. "You know I haven't seen it snow this much in years…I guess you're a lucky charm."

"I doubt that," Emily laughed. "But, thanks."

They lay there for a few more minutes; the snow gently hitting their faces. Emily's eyes were closed, and a small smile crept onto her lips. She relished in the warmth and comfort that Paige brought.

"Aren't you coming with us?"

"I can't. I promised Shana that I'd go to this event with her. She's been on my ass about it for weeks." Paige smiled. "Don't worry. My mom knows the best places to shop in Atlanta. You two will have fun."

"I don't even know what you want," Emily said, raising her head to face Paige.

"Surprise me."

"But what if you don't like the surprise…"

"I'll love anything that you get me…just as long as it isn't money or gift cards."

"Okay," Emily said, standing up and offering a hand to Paige. "But don't hate me if it sucks."

"I doubt that I could ever hate anything you give me."

"I wouldn't be so sure," Emily laughed.

"How about this…if I don't like, you can make it up to me…"

"And how would I do that?"

"I'll think of something," Paige said, giving Emily a devious smile, before disappearing into the house. "Have fun!"

Christine came out a few minutes later ready to go. Emily grabbed her purse, and joined Christine in the car. The drive to Atlanta was a little under two hours. They pulled up in front of a row of shops. It wasn't the usually Macy's or department store. These stores sold unique clothing, trinkets, accessories, and everything in between.

Emily wandered through all the stores with Christine, trying to decided what to get everyone. Christine helped her pick out a few books that Nick would like. She bought Christine a porcelain bowl that Paige said her mom had wanted.

She spent hours perusing the aisles trying to find the perfect gift for Paige. She tried to think of all the things that Paige liked. Paige liked to swim, ride horses, but that was really all. She tried to think back to when they were little. They were always building things, bird houses, boxes, collecting shells and rocks, driving in Emily's battery powered car. Her dad was always teaching them new ways to build things.

"I know this might sound weird, but do you have like a saw and wood?" Emily asked Christine.

"Well I know we've got a hand saw, but I'm not sure we have wood. We can pick some up on the way home."

"That would be great if we can."

"Sure. There's a hardware store on the way home we can stop at. Have you got everything you need?"

"I just need to grab one more thing," Emily said, hurrying back down the aisle. She hurried back down the aisle, trying to remember where she saw the perfect gift. When she spotted it, she snatched it off the shelf and hurried back.

About an hour later they were pulling into a hardware store. She walked down the aisle grabbing this and that. She bought two different types of wood before she was satisfied with Paige's gift.

"So are you planning on building something?" Christine asked.

"Yeah. My dad used to help me build all sorts of things. I just hope I can remember how."

"I remember when the two of you would build birdhouse and hope that one day a family would come in live in them. I think we even have a few of them in our basement."

"Do you think Paige will like it?"

"Yeah…she's gonna love it."

When they pulled into the driveway Paige's truck was gone, which gave Emily the perfect opportunity to start working on Paige's present. She hauled the wood and materials to the back of the barn. Christine helped her set up before going to deliver some of the milk.

She remembered the instructions her dad told her. She measured the length and width she wanted, then spent an hour sawing at the wood. She sanded the wood, before hammering a few nails and screwing a few screws. She was just about to start the second half of her project when she heard two cars rolling up the driveway. She recognized Paige's instantly, but the other car was unfamiliar, but she recognized the other driver quickly. It was Shana.

She watched Paige wrapped an arm around Shana, before they disappeared inside the house. She suddenly felt a wave of awkwardness wash over. Neither Nick or Christine or were home, which meant that Shana and Paige were in the house…alone. She couldn't explain it, but for some reason her heart suddenly ached a little.

She tried to focus on finishing the foundation of her project, but her eyes would constantly wonder to Paige's lighted window. Every now and then she would see someone pass by the window.

She spent another hour trying to work, but gave up after making too many mistakes. She packed up her things, and shoved them into a vacant corner, before heading back to the house. The house was silent when she entered.

She quietly headed up to her room, avoiding the third step. Paige's light was on, and she could hear muffled voices coming from inside. She took a seat on her bed, and pulled Paige's laptop towards her. She put on some quiet music from Paige's library, before opening the search engine. Her fingers hoover over the keys for a few minutes, debating whether or not to search.

Emily took a deep breath before typing. _Rosewood, PA. Murder._ She hit the enter button and watched the result compile in front of her. She clicked on the latest new article: _Rosewood Police have several new leads in the string of cases revolving around the DiLaurentis case._

Emily skimmed the article. _"Rosewood Police have brought in several suspects relating to the DiLaurentis case, although names of those suspects are not being released at this time, the Rosewood PD believes that they are one step closer to solving this mystery, and they hope to return normalcy to Rosewood and its residents._ She continued reading, finding her name mentioned several times, along with the other girls, throughout the article.

She clicked on another article and continued to read. It wasn't until someone shouted that she was brought back to reality. It took a second for Emily to register who had shouted and what they had shouted.

"God this is exactly what I'm talking about!" she heard someone yell. It didn't take her long to realize that it was Shana.

"Shana, that's not what I meant," she heard Paige reply. There was something in the tone of Paige's voice that made Emily realize that things weren't 'okay'.

"I can't believe you told Emily and not me," Shana said, sounding hurt and angry. "I'm your girlfriend Paige."

"That's what this is about?" Paige replied, sounding frustrated. "Look, Emily and I go back a long time, okay. I just wasn't ready to tell you."

"But you were ready to talk about it with Emily?" Shana asked, accusingly. "What's going on between you and Emily?"

"What?" Paige asked. "Nothing's going on between us."

"Really…I see the way you look at her, Paige. You never look at me that way."

"Shana. I swear, there's nothing going on between us," Paige pleaded.

"I wanna believe that, but I see the way she looks at you. You've been blowing me off ever since she got here. Seems to me like the feeling's mutual."

"I'm just trying to be there for her. It's not like this is easy for her."

"Sure, because she gets to curl up next to you in bed and let you run finger through her hair while you listen to her…" There was a long pause, before Shana spoke again. "You love her don't you…" Emily felt like someone had taken an icepick to her heart.

"Shana…" Emily could hear the pain in Paige's voice, like she was pained by the truth. Did Paige love her?

"So you don't deny it…" As the silence ticked on, Emily felt her chest tighten.

"Shana. I chose you to love, okay, not Emily. I give myself to you every time you ask. I've put everything I have into this relationship; why can't you see that."

"But you always put in a little extra for Emily," Shana hissed. "God. I should have known."

"Shana, please." Emily heard the crack in Paige's voice. "Please, don't do this."

"Have you fucked her?"

"What?" Paige asked confused. "Shana I—" Emily heard a loud slap.

"Fuck you Paige," Shana said, angrily. "At least now you can fuck her without feeling guilty. I'm done." Emily heard Paige's door open loudly.

"Shana!" Paige called out. Shana's footsteps pounded down the stairs, and a car engine started. Emily felt as if her heart had shattered into a million pieces. She sat there unable to breathe. She heard several loud thuds come from Paige's room, before she heard something crash against the wall.

The sound of Paige's bathroom door opening, brought Emily from her trace. She turned and saw a Paige standing frozen in front of her. Her eyes were red and puffy from crying. There was a red mark covering the side of Paige's face, where Shana had slapped her.

"Em?" she croaked, trying not to cry. "I thought you were out shopping."

"We-we got back early," Emily said, blinking back tears. "Paige…"

"Don't…" she said, wiping the tears from her eyes. Emily noticed that there was blood coming from Paige's hand. She tried to move towards Paige, but Paige backed away quickly. "Just…" Paige's hand waivered in front of her as if to tell Emily to stay put. She opened her mouth to speak, but no words came out. Instead she turned, and slowly closed the door behind her.

Emily tried to steady her breathing, but quiet sobs quickly escaped as the tears streamed down her cheek. All of this was because of her.


	10. Chapter 10

Emily felt the weight of reality the next morning. Every part of her ached. It took all the energy she had to get out of bed. She couldn't imagine what Paige was going through. Paige's bathroom was still shut, and when Emily tried to open it, she found that it was locked. The lights were off in Paige's room, but Paige's bedroom door was open when Emily walked by.

There was a small whole in the wall, opposite Paige's bed, and a broke picture frame lay on the floor. Glass shards littered the floor. Paige's bed was unmade, and several of her drawer were half open. Clothes littered the floor and there were several books thrown on the ground.

When Emily finally made her way downstairs, she found Christine in the kitchen, drinking a cup of coffee.

"Morning Emily," she said with a weak smile. Emily sensed the sadness in her tone and guessed that Paige must have told her what happened.

"Morning…"

"Coffee?"

"Uh, sure," Emily sigh, taking a seat at the counter.

"You okay?"

"No…" Emily sighed. "Do you ever feel like you're in the wrong place at the wrong time?"

"All the time," she smiled. "Paige told me what happened. It's not your fault Emily."

"Kinda feels like it was…"

"Emily…those two were bound to break up eventually…" From the questioning look Emily gave, Christine explained. "A mother knows."

"I just wished that it hadn't happened because of me…"

"I know, but things happen for a reason…sometimes you can't change that," Christine said, resting a gentle hand on Emily's shoulder.

"Do you know where she is?" Christine shook her head.

"Don't worry. Paige'll be okay. She just needs some time and space."

Emily sat alone in the kitchen replaying the scenes from the night before. Shana accused Paige of being in love with her. Was that true? Sure, Paige liked her, but as friends, right? Was her heart hurting because of what had happened or was it because that she actually felt something for Paige? Emily shook the questions from her head. She couldn't let herself dwell on the situation.

She searched the closest for a dustpan and broom before heading upstairs. She began sweeping up the shards of glass that scatter the floor. The picture that had been tossed across the room was the picture of her and Paige when they were little. Only this time, Emily could barely make out their faces. She placed the picture back in its original spot before picking up the rest of Paige's things.

By noon, Paige's room was back to its normal look, minus the hole in the wall and the broken picture. She hoped that Paige would show up, but as the hours ticked by, she knew Paige wasn't going to come back.

She returned to the barn to finish working on Paige's present, sanding it down to the finest softness. She found a soldering iron and began to etch lines into the wood. She wasn't much of an artist, but the image before her told the story she wanted to tell. The smell of burning wood filled the air, bring back memories of her dad.

Emily ran her fingers over the warm wood, sanding out any rough patches. Alfie neighed in the distance, bringing Emily to look her him.

"Hey," she said scratching his ear. He rested his head on the pen and looked sadly into her eyes. "I know…"

The sound of a car brought Emily's attention to the house. Paige's truck rolled up next to the house. She watched Paige sit in her truck for a few minutes, before getting out a heading inside.

Paige made her way into the house. She avoided her mother who was cooking dinner in the kitchen. She made her way quickly up to her room, but stopped when she reached the entrance. The pictures, the clothes, the glass were all gone. The broken and scratched picture rested on her desk, and her clothes had been neatly folded and placed on top of her dresser. The glass shards were gone and her bed was made. She thought the maybe her mother had come in and clean, but she knew her mother would never do that.

She glanced out her window towards the barn. Emily was standing there, scratching Alfie behind the ears, smiling. She held something brown in her hand, but Paige couldn't make out what it was. She was only focused on Emily, the way she smiled, the way she looked Alfie in the eyes. Everything about Emily entranced her. She'd been entranced with Emily ever since they met, 16 years ago. But it had cost her relationship with Shana, and she couldn't let that happen again.

Emily caught sight of Paige staring at her from her window. She couldn't make out Paige's expression. But as soon as she made eye contact with Emily, she quickly turned and disappeared. She let out a heavy sigh. Paige hated her.

"She hates me doesn't she…" she sighed, resting her chin on the pen. Alfie let out a snort, before nuzzling his nose in her face. She let out a gentle laugh. "I'm glad you don't think so…"

She slowly made her way back in the house. Christine was in the kitchen cooking dinner, when Emily walked in.

"Emily! Perfect timing. Dinner will be ready in five," she said.

She made her way up to her room. Paige's door was shut when she walked by, but she heard the radio blasting from inside. She thought about knocking, but thought better of it. She dropped Paige's gift off in her room, before heading back downstairs.

Dinner couldn't have been more uncomfortable for Emily. She sat there in awkward silence. Paige didn't show for dinner that night, nor would she show for the following nights. Christine would bring a small plate up to her room after dinner.

Emily lay on her bed, listening to Paige's music blast from the other room. She got up from her bed and knocked twice on Paige's bathroom door. There was no answer; Emily assumed that Paige just didn't hear her so she opened the door and peered into the room.

Paige was laying on back with a pillow covering her face. Emily didn't know whether to get Paige's attention or to just leave her be.

"Paige?" Nothing. Emily hated watching Paige tear herself apart. "Paige!"

Paige heard her name being shouted from somewhere. She removed the pillow from her face only to find that it was Emily standing in the door way, looking at her.

"What?" Paige said, wiping away a few stray tears.

"We need to talk."

"There's nothing to talk about," Paige said, trying to change the subject.

"Yes, there is!" Emily entered the room and took a seat on the edge of Paige's bed. "Like it or not, but we need to talk."

"And like I've said there is nothing to talk about."

"I heard everything Paige…"

Emily watched as Paige covered her face with her hands, trying to figure out her next move. She heard Paige take a few deep breaths before getting up.

"What do you want me to say?"

"Tell me truth…" Emily whispered. She needed to her the truth. She didn't want to be the cause of Paige's break-up, but she knew deep down that it was.

"I, Em-," Paige said pacing the room, before coming to stand in front of Emily.

"I ruined everything by coming here…I ruined you and Shana, I let my noisiness get the best of me."

"Em-" Paige said, trying to stop Emily, but Emily didn't hear her.

"…I should have said yes to you teaching me to ride a horse, but I was selfish, I was too focused on…"

"Em –"

"…I just thought that…"

Paige couldn't take any more of Emily's rambling. She knew the truth and she had a feeling that Emily did to.

"I can't even bei –" Emily didn't get a chance to finish, because Paige's lips were pressed gently against hers. Her whole body felt as if it had been electrocuted. Paige's lips were so soft and sweet, but as quickly as they had come but withdrew.

Emily felt her cheeks burning as she made eye contact with Paige. Her body was too tense move and her lips were too memorized to produce speech.

"Sorry…you just wouldn't shut up," Paige said softly.

"I-" was all that Emily could produce.

"Look, I loved Shana, and I'm not happy about the way things ended, but they did. And I know that I have no right to expect that this," she motioned between the two of them, "is something that could ever happen."

Emily sat there quietly listening to Paige's words. They hit her like arrows. Paige didn't know that she had feelings for her and Paige also assumed that she was straight.

"I'm sorry Em," Paige said getting up. Emily watched as Paige grabbed her coat. "I'll see you later." And just like that Paige was gone.

Emily sat there still in shock of what had happened. Had Paige really just kissed her? She raised her fingers to her lips and let them rest there. Paige's lips were so soft, and her kiss was so gently. Just thinking about it gave Emily goosebumps.

Emily didn't get much sleep that night. She waited, hoping that she would hear Paige come back, but she didn't. She ate a quiet breakfast with Nick and Christine. Neither of them asked questions about Paige's whereabouts.

Emily spent most of the day tending to the horses and milking the cows. She took a walk down the lake and took a seat at the edge of the dock. This was the first time that Emily had the chance to gather her thoughts and think about what she was going to do next. She thought about what Paige had said, that 'this' could never happen between them, but then why did Paige kiss her? Was it for closure? Or something else? Emily didn't know. It seemed to Emily that Paige just wanted to kiss Emily and then forget that anything had happened and just go back to being friends.

Emily thought that maybe she could do that, but that kiss…that kiss made everything crystal clear for her. She'd been lying to herself for years. She was straight? Maybe it was just a phase? Or maybe it was just Paige?

Paige rolled over on the couch and glanced at her phone. 11:25am. She groaned slightly before sitting up and throwing her hair into a loose bun.

"Ah your up!" Maggie said, coming into the living room.

"Hey Maggie," Paige said, stifling a yawn. "Thanks for letting me crash here."

"Of course. You're always welcome here, you know that," Maggie said handing Paige a cup of hot coffee. "I sense something is troubling you."

"What makes you think that?" Paige asked, smiling.

"It's a mother's intuition. Tell me, what's going on?"

"I broke up with Shana."

"Oh, I'm sorry to hear that."

"That's not even the worse part…"

"Oh…" Maggie said interestedly.

"My mom and Emily went shopping in Atlanta a few days ago, so I thought me and Shana could have a little alone time, you know." Maggie nodded. "Everything was going fine, until I mentioned spending the break with Emily. Then she flipped and started yelling that I care more about Emily than I did her, then she slapped me, accused me of cheating, and then left."

"Are you upset that you and Shana broke-up?"

"Of course I am, we were together for over two years…"

"But it was what she said that upset you more…" Maggie offered. "Isn't it?"

Paige let Maggie's word sink in. Emily was the one thing that Paige wanted most in the world, but she knew that she couldn't have her. Emily had a boyfriend, or at least had a boyfriend waiting for her back home. Emily was leaving soon, and Paige didn't want to start something that wouldn't last. Not to mention the way Emily reacted to her kiss just proved her point further.

"I care about Emily, and she didn't have anything to do with the break-up."

"Keep telling yourself that," Maggie scoffed. "Oh, come on Paige. Anyone can see that you have feelings for Emily, except maybe you and Emily."

"It's that obvious?"

"You're not very good with subtleness. You never have been."

"…I kissed her Maggie."

"And?"

"I don't know…she just stared back at me like I was insane. I panicked and just left."

"She didn't say anything?" Paige shook her head. "Well…"

"I don't know what I'll do when I have to see her."

"Just be you. That's the best that you can do. You'd rather have her as a friend than not all."

Paige knew that she and Emily would just be friends, but she needed to kiss Emily once, just to know that Emily didn't feel the same way. From Emily's reaction, Paige got her closure.

 **Let me know if you love, hate, have opinions on this chapter!**


	11. Chapter 11

**Hey guys! I hope you are enjoying the holidays! I just wanted to write a little thing for the holidays. It's mainly just a fill and doesn't have much significance. I hope that you are enjoying this story so far! I know that I've been doing somewhat regular updates but seeing as it's the holidays I won't be posting again until after the holidays.**

 **Please let me know what you think, and have a Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, and Happy Holidays. Love you all, and remember to tell your loved ones how much you love them.**

 **Chapter 11**

Emily rarely saw Paige in the following days. Paige was either out of the house or shut up in her room listening to music. She didn't come knocking at Emily's door, which Emily was beginning to miss. She didn't see Paige go near Alfie or Beanie, if she did, Emily didn't know about it. She figured that Paige was giving her space to think or Paige just wanted space.

It was Christmas Eve when Emily saw Paige face to face since their kiss. Her blood shot eyes were encircled by dark bags. Emily questioned if she'd slept since their kiss. She'd never seen Paige look so drained. Paige gave Emily as weak smile before disappearing for the day.

Emily heard the shower turn on early Christmas morning. Then she heard Paige descend the stairs. She heard the front door open, and then close, but no car engine. She crawled out of bed and peered out her window. Paige was dressed in jeans and flannel, with her hair pulled into a messy bun. It was the first time that Emily had seen Paige go anywhere near the barn. She disappeared inside the horse pen.

A couple of minutes later, Paige trotted out of the barn with Alfie. They trotted so gracefully together. Emily watched them ride down the field and over the hill, out of sight.

Paige felt the morning air nip at her face. It was cold but refreshing. She steered Alfie towards the open meadow. She unhooked the saddle, and laid it on the ground before letting Alfie roam free.

The morning dew soaked the back of her shirt as she laid down on the grass. She used to come here all the time just to think. The meadow went on for miles. It was remote and she could scream as aloud as she wanted to without anyone hearing her. She'd come here during the night for the past week. She'd spend sleepless nights looking up at the stars trying to forget everything that had happened. She'd hope that a shooting star would grant all her wishes. But it wouldn't. She spent the past few days trying to figure out how to act 'normal' around Emily, but mainly what she'd done was avoid Emily at all cost.

She laid there for what felt like minutes, when her phone vibrated. She glanced at the text from her mother, telling her she need to come back. She saddled Alfie before riding back to the barn. The Harrisons pulled up into the driveway just as Paige got to the barn. She quickly put Alfie back in his pen, before heading inside.

"Paige!" a little Lily shouted happily, attaching herself to Paige's leg.

"Hey, there superstar," she laughed, ruffling Lily's hair.

"Why you sad?" she asked, looking into Paige's eyes.

"Oh, no, I'm just tired,' Paige said, catching Emily's eye. Emily gave her a small smile before returning to her conversation with Maggie.

"Hey Lily, I gotta go change my shirt really quick, okay?"

"Okay!" Paige managed to detach herself from Lily's grasp before heading upstairs.

She pulled off her wet flannel and threw on a different flannel. There was a soft knock at her door. She thought it was Emily at first, but her father's voice soon followed.

"Paige, are you decent?"

"Yeah," Paige said, opening the door.

"Hey kiddo. How ya holding up?"

"I've been better…" Paige sigh.

"Do you want to talk about it?"

"Yes, but not right now," Paige said, taking a seat next to her father.

"Okay," Nick said, wrapping an arm around Paige. "Just be safe, okay?"

"I will dad," she laughed.

They sat there for a few more minutes before they rejoined the party. Paige felt Emily's eyes on her throughout dinner. It was like they were burning a hole into her. She tried to ignore the feelings that were building up inside of her, but every time she looked at Emily she thought about how much she wanted to kiss her.

"Can we open pwesents now?" Lily asked, tugging at her mother's dress.

"How about you hand out everyone's present?" Lily cheered happily before disturbing the Christmas presents around the room. Paige laughed as Lily sang Christmas tunes at the top of her lungs while hanging out present. Emily sat in a chair opposite Paige. She gave Paige a warm smile as she received her present.

"Oh, Emily, there you are," Christine said, coming into the kitchen. "You have a call." Paige watched Emily rise from her seat, before accepting the phone from Christine. She only heard the first few words of the conversation before Emily went outside to the porch.

"Now can we open pwesents?" Lily asked eagerly.

"I guess we can!" With that, Lily starting to rip off the wrapping paper.

Paige had a small stack of presents in front of her. She started opening the present from her parents first. They'd given her a few new shirts, music albums, and books. The Harrison's had gotten Paige a small hourglass. It was hand carved filled with sand from Egypt.

Paige held her last gift in front of her. Emily's handwriting was clearly visible on the tag. She excused herself from the social gathering and grabbed her gift to Emily before heading outside to the porch. She spotted Emily sitting on the stairs, staring up at the night sky.

"Hey" Emily jumped slightly, before turning around. "Can I join you?"

"Yeah," she said quietly.

"Here," Paige said, handing over Emily's present.

Emily ran her fingers over the shiny wrapping paper, before pulling at the tape. She carefully unwrapped Paige's present to reveal a small ordinary rectangular box. Inside, the box was filled with pictures that Emily had never seen before. There were pictures of her and Paige when they were little; pictures of her and her father, mother, everything."

"I know it's not much, but it's a little taste of home while you're away."

"Paige, it's perfect, but how did you…"

"I was going through some old boxes and found a bunch of them. You need them more than I do."

"Thanks you," Emily smiled. "Can I hug you?"

"You don't have to ask," Paige said, pulling Emily in a warm hug. Paige relished in the warmth that Emily, but that was all it would ever be. Warmth.

"Open yours," Emily motioned.

Paige set her present in front of her, before peeling away the paper. She ran her fingers over the smooth wood. "Wow. This is…did you make this?"

"Yeah."

"It's beautiful." The box was made of oak. Paige's initials were craved onto the top of the box. When she opened the box, she felt her heart skip a beat. Underneath the lid was a carving of the McCullers's farm and resting inside, was a small blue plastic car, just like the one they used to drive around when they were kids. "Emily…this is…" She felt her heart swell with happiness. She blinked back a few tears before looking Emily in the eyes. "I don't even have words to describe this…"

A smile appeared on Emily's lips as she watched Paige fumble for her words.

"Thank you," Paige said.

"Merry Christmas Paige," Emily said, trying to avoid any awkward silences. Emily felt her heart racing, but she knew that it was a gesture of 'thank you'.

"Merry Christmas Em," Paige whispered, resting her head gently against Emily's shoulder.


	12. Chapter 12

**Hey guys! I hope you are all enjoying the holidays! I wrote a two chapters but realized that my posting time would be slightly off, but who cares, I guess. I was planning on posting this yesterday, but I got carried away. Anyways this chapter is kind of another filler, about them getting back to normal. I'll post the next chapter around 8-9 EST, so be on the look out.**

 **Let's hope 2017 is better than 2016!**

 **Chapter 12**

She glanced over towards Emily's door. It was partially ajar, and she could make just make out Emily's feet resting on her bed. Paige rolled the tiny blue plastic car over and over with her fingers. She traced the outline of the wheels, running her fingers over the grooves and notches. She thought back to the moments of her and Emily laughing as they drove around the open fields on Fort Hood.

 _"_ _Faster Emily faster," Paige laughed, sticking her hands in the air. Emily laughed before she floored it on the gas._

"Hey," a voice said, bring her out of her thoughts. Emily was leaning in the doorway, smiling.

"Hey."

"Can I come in?" Paige nodded and Emily took a seat on the bed next to Paige. "Thinking about that car?"

"Yeah," Paige chuckled. Paige glanced up towards Emily, and a wave of sadness suddenly washed over her. "Look I know that things have been weird between the two of us…"

"Yeah…just a little bit" Emily said, smiling slightly.

"I'm sorry…I shouldn't have—"

"Kissed me?"

"Yeah…"

"It's okay," Emily said quietly. "It was heat of the moment. Things happen." Emily still question whether it was just the heat of the moment or did Paige really have feelings for her? And if she did, would she be willing to hide them to maintain their friendship.

"I guess I just…I don't know…"

"Well at least we know you're not a bad kisser," Emily joked, trying to break the tension. It must have done the trick because a smile appeared on Paige's face.

Paige let out a laugh before getting off her bed and tossing the pillow she had been holding at Emily. She grabbed an empty box and headed towards her bureau.

"Paige…what are you doing?" Emily asked. She watched as Paige opened her drawers and began tossing clothing into the box.

"Moving on…"

"Paige it's been less than two weeks. You two were together for a long time."

"When you live in a small town, it's hard to find people like you. But when you do you'll do anything to try and keep them close, I guess that's what happened to us. Our relationship was already strained…before you came along…we were both trying to find some way to…" Paige took a deep breath. "I guess Shana found a way out…"

"Paige…I'm sorry…"

"It's okay Em," Paige said, packing Shana's things into a box. "Our time was up."

"So what are you going to do now?"

"I don't know…focus on school, swim, find someone else to date, who knows…"

"Well…I have an idea."

"And what's that?"

"Are you doing anything right now?" Emily asked.

"Uh, no…not really…"

"Great! Then you can teach me how to ride that horse!" Emily said, taking hold of Paige's hand.

"Are you sure? We don't have to if you're not ready."

"Paige, I've been ready for a while. I just enjoyed you asking me all the time," Emily admitted. A small smile appeared on Paige's lips, before she pulled Emily off the bed.

"Well, I guess I won't have to ask any more," Paige joked, as she pulled on her jacket.

"I'll miss that," Emily whispered to herself.

Paige was surprised how easily they slipped back into being friends. She thought it would be the hardest challenge of her life. Meanwhile in the other room, Emily was in a panic…had she just flirted with Paige?

A few minutes later and they were heading out to barn. There were a few snow patches here and there, but the warm weather was slowly starting to melt that away. Paige walked next to Emily smiling and laughing the whole way to the barn.

"What are you so happy about?"

"I finally get to get you on a horse!"

"Just make sure that I stay on the horse," Emily said, smiling.

"Will do," Paige said, grabbing a saddle. "Watch me."

Paige guide Emily through the steps of saddling a horse. She made Emily practice several times before she felt confident that Emily could do it on her down. She grabbed a helmet and handed it to Emily. Emily glanced down at it confused as to why Paige was holding out a helmet.

"Just in case, you know, you might fall and knock your head…"

"Well this is off to a great start," Emily said, fastening the helmet to her head. "Should I wear any other protective gear?" Emily joked. Paige shook her head laughing.

It's been a while since Emily saw Paige genuinely smile and laugh. A smile appeared on Emily lips as she watched Paige demonstrate how to get on and off the horse properly.

"You think you got it?" Paige said, standing behind Emily. Emily nodded. "Alright, show me what you got."

Emily took a small breath before slipping her foot into the spur. She pulled herself and swung her body over the saddle. She got an approving smile from Paige. She waited for Paige to mount Beanie before they continued.

Paige showed her how to hold the reins, and how to turn, stop, speed up, and what to do if Alfie got scared.

"Pretty easy right?" Paige asked, glancing over at Emily.

"You say that now…" Emily said, trying to remember everything that Paige had told her.

"Don't worry, I'll be right next to you," Paige said, patting Emily on the thigh. "Alfie's really gentle. He won't hurt you, promise."

"Okay…let's just start slow…" Emily said, giving Alfie a gentle kick.

Alfie slowly began to walk forward. Emily held on tightly to the reins as she tested the steering. Paige followed closely next to her. She was smiling as Emily turned this way and that way.

"Looking good," Paige called. Beanie and Paige galloped pasted her and began during circles around Emily and Alfie. "Faster?"

"Okay," Emily hesitated. She gave Alfie a nudge and he slowly started to pick up speed.

"There you go!" Paige laughed.

Emily felt herself start to laugh, as Alfie trotted faster. She remembered what Paige had told her about being one with the horse, and she was finally starting to realize what that meant. Alfie sense Emily's emotions. When she was scared, he'd slow down, and when she was confident he'd speed up. Within an hour or two Emily was galloping next to Paige.

"Follow me, there's a place I want to show you…"

Emily followed Paige over the hill and down a beaten path. A few minutes later they road into an open meadow. Paige dismounted Beanie and began taking her saddle off. Emily followed Paige's actions.

Paige threw the saddle over a low hanging tree branch. She pulled out a few blankets, and laid them under the tree.

"This place is beautiful," Emily said, admiring the open meadow. Even though it was still wintertime, the meadow was still beautiful.

"I found this place when we first moved here," Paige said, looking at over the meadow. "It was a nice, quiet place."

"Do you come here a lot?"

"Yeah, all the time," Paige said, picking at the grass. "I always come here to think. You can scream as loud as you want and no one will here you. It's a good place to just get away from reality for a little while."

"I had fun today."

"Me too."

"Thank you."

"You're welcome," Paige said, smiling.

They stay there with their backs against the tree for a little while longer. Emily rested her head on Paige's shoulder. Emily sat there wondering if she kiss Paige right now, what would happen? She couldn't. They just got back to being friends and she didn't want to risk it.

She thought about the way her heart would race whenever Paige smiled, and the way it ached whenever Paige was hurt or sad. Did that mean that she did in fact love Paige?

"Paige…?" Emily asked quietly.

"Hm…"

"How did you know you were gay?" Emily asked cautiously. "Sorry, uh, you don't have to tell me. I shouldn't have asked."

"What? No…it's okay, really," Paige chuckled. "I don't know…I guess it happened when I hit middle school. All my friends were boy crazy, and I just wasn't. I remember I went to mom crying, thinking that there was something wrong with me. The summer before 7th grade, by parents sent me to a swim camp at Stanford. When I was there, I met a girl a couple years old, who was gay. We were watching a movie one night and she kissed me, and I guess everything just clicked for me. I came home that summer and told my parents, I think they were more relieved than angry, and I guess the rest you already know…"

"Is it always that easy?"

"Of course not…it different for everyone. Sometimes people don't even realize that they're gay until way later or life and sometimes you know the instant you're born. Shana's parents didn't deal with the situation as great as my parents did. They didn't talk to her for months…"

"That's terrible," Emily said, sadly.

"It's life. People in the south are much more conservative, and believe that love should be between a man and a woman. Anything outside that tiny box is a sin. Some people are able to see outside of that box, and others aren't."

Emily thought about how her mother would have reacted if she told her that she might be gay. Her father would have accepted it after some time, because he just wants to see her happy, but her mother was another story. As much as Emily loved her mother, she held her views and beliefs within that tiny box that Paige described.

"What would have happened if your parents couldn't see outside that box?" Emily asked, curiously.

"I'm scared to think about it, but I would like to believe that at some point that'd realize that being who I am makes me happy, makes me…me…"

"Do you have any friends who are gay?" Paige asked. Emily shook her head.

A long silence ensued their conversation. Paige thought about the questions that Emily had asked and wondered if Emily was questioning her own sexuality or if she was just curious.

They sat there for another hour or so, before Paige felt Emily start to shiver a little. "You cold?"

"Just a bit," Emily said, slightly embarrassed.

"How about we head back?" Paige suggested. "The horses are probably bored by now."

"Okay…"

They saddled their horses, before heading back to the barn. Once the horses were de-saddled, fed, and groomed they headed back inside the house. Christine was in the kitchen chopping up some vegetable for dinner.

"Have a good ride?"

"Yeah, I finally got Emily on a horse," Paige said, taking a seat at the counter.

"So what did you think?" Christine asked Emily.

"It was amazing. I guess I'm over my irrational fear of horses," Emily chuckled.

"That's wonderful. Do you to want some hot chocolate or anything?" They both nodded happily. Christine whipped up a few hot chocolates for the three of them. "Dinner should be ready in about an hour."

"How about a movie while we wait?" Emily suggested.

"Sure," Paige said, "I'm pretty sure I've got a few good ones," Paige, kneeling down and grabbing a stack of movies. Emily skimmed through the movies before finding a the one she wanted to watch. "Find one?"

"I think I found the perfect one…" Emily said, holding up the movie.

"…Tangled…" Paige said slowly, reading the title.

"Please tell me you've seen it," Emily said in disbelief. Paige shook her head. "Good lord Paige, alright, I've got to give you a Disney education tonight."

"Only if we can have ice cream, popcorn, and hot chocolate."

"Deal!"

When dinner was ready, they headed downstairs and quickly ate before returning to Paige's room. They watched several Disney classics that Paige had never seen before including Aladdin, The Little Mermaid, 101 Dalmatians, and Lady and the Tramp.

It was well past two in the morning, when they both slipped into a comfortable sleep.


	13. Chapter 13

**Hope you all had an amazing NYE...I know this chapter is a day off but better late than never, right? I thought that I would throw in a twist...sort of...please let me know if you like it, hate it, all of the above. Enjoy.**

 **Chapter 13**

Things had returned to normal quickly. The kiss seemed to be something of the past, but for both of them it was still fresh, they just chose not to show it. They spent the last few days lounging around. Emily had a lot of time to think while Paige was out of the house.

She'd never had feelings for a girl before. Allison was the only girl that Emily had kiss until Paige came along. She tried to picture herself in a relationship with a girl, and for some reason is seemed to fit perfectly. Was she gay? She kept asking herself that question over and over again.

"Hey," Paige said coming into her room.

"Hey."

"They're a New Year's Party tonight," Paige said looking at her phone. "Do you want to go with me?"

"Uh, sure if that's okay."

"Of course," Paige smiled. "It starts at 10:00pm."

"Alright," Emily said, glancing at her clock. It was 7:30pm.

"Great! I'm going to whip up a quick dinner. Want anything in particular?"

"I'm good with anything."

"Great!" Paige said, before leaving the room.

Emily waited for Paige to leave before looking for something to wear. She laid out a few

outfits. She'd been to a few New Year's parties where the attire consisted of short dresses. But this was Georgia, they probably don't do that here.

She scratched all of her outfits when she saw was Paige was wearing. Paige had on jeans,

a black v-neck, and a flannel. Causal as usual. She'd noticed that Paige wasn't the one to get dressed up unless it was absolutely necessary.

They were on the road by 9:45pm. The party was a few towns over. The house that they

pulled up to was similar to Paige's. It was secluded, no neighbors around, there was an opened field, and a barn in the distance. The field had several cars parked on it, along with cars lining the driveway.

People were gathered everywhere, from the field, porch, and house. Emily was aghast by how many people were at one house. There must have been at least 50 people, and was from what she saw from the outside.

"Who's place is this?"

"Sydney Driscoll's."

The house was filled with people when they entered. Music was blasting, people were dancing, and playing games.

"Wow…" Emily whispered, looking around the place. So this is what rich looks like in Georgia.

"Paige! Emily!" They heard a slightly tipsy Sydney call out their names. "I'm so glad you two could make it. Drinks are in the kitchen!" She gave them each a sloppy hug before disappearing into the crowd.

"Can I get you something to drink?" Paige offered.

"Sure!"

Emily stood awkwardly watching the crowd of people around her. People were dancing everywhere, there were a few who was very interested in each other, and there were just groups of people chatting. It was unlike any party Emily had every been too. It was chill, yet up beat.

"Here," Paige said, handing her a beer.

Emily was a little surprised to see Paige handing her a beer, but this was a New Year's party. What did she expect? Grape juice? "Thanks!" She took a sip, and then another. "Wow this is good."

"It's cider…" Paige laughed.

"Wait, Paige you have to drive."

"Relax Emily, I have a high tolerance. I'll pace myself." Emily thought about fighting Paige, but she remembered that Paige was a responsible person and that she would never drive drunk or even close to it. She felt a tinge of concern when Paige said 'high tolerance' but she waved it off. "Just enjoy yourself."

"Paige!" Sydney called from out of nowhere. "Oh my god, did you see—" Sydney was dragging Paige away by the arm. "Relax Paige, Em will be fine."

"You sure?" Paige asked Emily.

"Yeah, go! I'll be fine!" Emily laughed.

"Okay." And with that Paige was gone. Emily glanced around the room trying to figure out what to do next.

"Emily! Is that you?" Emily whipped around at the call of her name.

"Sam! Hey!" Emily laughed, relieved that she had found someone that she knew.

"Hey! I was just about to join in on a game of Kings! Come on!"

Emily followed Sam into a quieter room. There were about 15 people sitting in a circle with various drinks in the middle. Sam claimed a bottle of tequila and two small shot glasses for both of her and Emily.

The first card that was drawn was 6. "Alright chicks, drink!" one of the guys called out. Sam poured a shot for the both of them. Emily tossed it back. It stung going down.

"Wwwooooo," Sam whistled. "Shit, I forgot how strong that stuff was."

"How about rum?" Emily said, trading in the tequila for Captain Morgan's.

"Much better idea."

"Why didn't you tell me that you and Shana broke up?" Sydney asked, closing the door to her bedroom.

"What did Shana tell you?"

"That you cheated on her, but we all know that Shana likes to exaggerate things. I just want to hear your side before I decided whether I'm going to slap you or Shana or both of you."

"I didn't cheat on Shana. You know I never would."

"I know, but she sounded convincing."

"Did she tell you who?" Sydney shook her head. Paige thought carefully about her next move.

"It's Emily isn't it…" Sydney probed.

"How?"

"Oh come on Paige, I'm not blind!"

"Fuck!"

"It's okay, I can see why you like her. Hell if I was gay I'd bang her."

"Syd!"

"What!" Sydney said innocently.

"She's not gay."

"How do you know?"

"I don't know…I just have a feeling," Paige said, not wanted to mention that she kissed Emily, but Emily didn't seem to reciprocate the same feelings.

"Have you asked her?"

"I can't just go up and ask 'Hey Emily, are you gay because I've been in love with you since I was two.'"

"Wait what?"

"Shit!" Paige groaned, realizing that said more than she wanted to.

"You've been in love with Emily since you were two? Wow."

"I know," Paige groaned, falling back onto the bed. "My life sucks."

"Yeah it does…"

"What am I going to do?"

"Well I've got an idea," Sydney said.

"And what's this brilliant idea of yours?"

"I'm going to kiss Emily!"

"What! That's a terrible idea," Paige said, pulling a drunk Sydney back onto the bed. "Can we deal with this when you're not trashed?"

"Oh that sounds like a better idea…I like that idea," Sydney giggled. "Well if we're not going to deal with your problem…you can help me deal with mine."

"And what would that be?"

"You know that guy Chris?"

"From chemistry?"

"Yup that's the one…"

"Drink, drink, drink," the grouped cheered as Emily started to chug her beer. Emily chugged as much as she could before slamming the bottle down on the table.

"Damn, who knew you could drink," Sam laughed, already very drunk.

Emily didn't even know that she could drink that much. They must have been playing for Kings for an hour. She already finished three beers, and had more shots than she could count. She knew that she was going to feel it in the morning, but she didn't care she was having fun.

"Okay, one more round and then I'm done," Sam hiccupped.

"Alright."

They half way through the round when Emily heard her name being called. At first she thought that it was Paige, but when she looked up she saw that it was Shana.

"You got a lot of nerve showing up here," Shana growled, clearly very angry.

"Shana I swear I didn't have anything to do with it."

"Yeah, that's what Paige said," Shana scoffed. "You'll never be anything to her. Besides you'll be leaving and then what? She'll be here with me."

Those words hit Emily like stones. It was the truth…she was leaving, and then what? "Fuck off Shana." There were 'oooooooo's' coming from the group.

"Bitch," Shana shouted, slapping Emily hard.

"SHANA!" Emily saw Paige emerging from the crowd. "Outside. Now!" Paige grabbed Shana and forced her outside.

"Shit…are you okay?" Sam said trying to examine Emily's face.

"I'm fine," Emily said, pushing Sam away. "Give me that." Emily grabbed the bottle of rum from Sam's hand and began to chug. She didn't care…she just wanted to drink until her couldn't remember.

"What the hell is wrong with you?" Paige shouted, letting go of Shana.

"What the hell is wrong with me?" Shana crackled. "What the hell is wrong with you Paige?"

"If this about us breaking up…you take it out on me! Not of Emily! Emily had nothing to do with this."

"Paige! I'm not blind!"

"For the last time, I didn't cheat on you!"

"I bet you fucked her good," Shana smirked. "She probably screamed your name."

"Do you hear yourself?" Paige shouted in frustration.

"I loved you Paige. You broke your heart!"

"You did it to yourself."

"Don't make this about you Paige."

"How can you be so selfish?"

"Oh that must be my survival instinct kicking in," Shana joked.

"You're unbelievable. I can't believe I loved you," Paige said angrily. She'd never seen this side of Shana, but the most she listened the more she realized how cruel Shana was.

"Guys! Stop!" Sydney said, coming in between the two of them.

"I'm done," Paige scoffed. "Where's Emily?"

"Inside," Sydney motioned to the house.

"That's right, run back to her, she'll never love you the way I did." Paige pushed past Shana. She caught Sydney's 'What the hell, Shana!' before she left.

She pushed through the crowd of people that were gathered on the porch, watching their argument. When she got into the house, Emily was nowhere to be.

"Sam!" Paige spotted Sam in the living room.

"Hey, Paige."

"Have you seen Emily?" Sam nodded and pointed a finger. Paige followed the direction of Sam's finger and stared in horror and amusement as Emily danced wildly on the table.

"Jesus, how much has she had to drink?"

"I don't. She drank a lot after Shana. I tried to stop her, but…"

Paige made her way to the table. "Emily!" Emily just kept dancing. "Emily!" No response. Paige pulled herself onto the table and grabbed Emily by the waist.

"P-paiiiggee!" Emily slurred.

"Alright, time to go home," Paige said, trying to steady Emily.

"B-but the baalll hasnn't droopppeedd." Paige glanced at her watch, and as she did people started to shout, "Ten! Nine! Eight!"

"Come on," Paige said, leading Emily off the table.

"Five! Four!"

"Pai-ige I li-like youuu."

"Three! Two!"

"What?"

Paige felt Emily's lips crash onto hers. The taste of rum was present, but Emily's lips were so soft. The kiss was sloppy, but every part of Paige's body was on fire. The kiss only last for a few moments, but it left Paige in a state of bliss and confusion.

"P-aige…I think I'm gonna…" Paige snapped out of quickly and rushed Emily outside. Emily hurled over the side of the porch.

"Alright…let's get you home," Paige said, leading drunk Emily back to her car. Thankfully the drive was long about 20 minutes. She only had to pull over once for Emily.

She piggy backed Emily to the bathroom and placed her next to the toilet. It wasn't long until her heard Emily hurling again. Paige grabbed a change of clothes from Emily's room.

"How ya feeling?" Paige asked, taking seat next to Emily.

"Shanaaa's a bitch," Emily slurred.

"Yeah," Paige chuckled.

"Paige, I drank, toooo much," Emily said, resting her head on the toilet seat.

"I can that. I'll be right back." Paige hurried downstairs and grabbed ginger ale and saltines before returning to Emily. "Here."

Emily nibbled on the crackers and drank the ginger ale, but it didn't last long before she hurled again. They sat on the floor of the bathroom for the next hour.

"How about we get you cleaned up?"

"Y-es," Emily hiccupped.

Paige started the shower, and was about to leave when Emily called her back.

"Ppaige I'm stuck," Emily said trying to untangle herself from her tank top. Paige let out a laugh as she watched a confused Emily trying to figure out where that 'extra' arm hole came from.

"Here," Paige said, carefully pulling Emily's arm through the proper arm hole. She suddenly became aware of how intimate the situation has become. Emily was standing in front her with just a bra and jeans on. "Um…you think you can do the rest."

"Have youu never undressed a girl before?" Emily joked, buttoning her pants.

"I'll be outside if you need anything," Paige said averting her eyes. She quickly left, closing the door behind her.

She laughed as heard Emily singing coming from the shower. "Baby, it's cold outside, I really can't stay, I've got to away, but baby it's COLD OUTSIDE…." A smile appeared on Paige's lips as she listen to Emily botch the song.

Twenty minutes later, Emily appeared in baggy sweatpants and sweatshirt. Paige quickly turned off the shower, and cleaned up the bathroom, before joining Emily in her room.

"How you feeling now?"

"D-drrunnk," Emily smiled goofily.

"Oh-kay…" Paige said letting out a deep sigh. She grabbed a trash can and placed it next to Emily's bed.

"Wait. doon't leave me," Emily said, grabbing onto Paige's hand, pulling her back. "Stay."

"Okay," Paige said taking a seat on Emily's bed.

"You wanna know something…"

"What?"

"You're a good kisser."

"Thanks?"

"I would kiss you, but-"

"It's okay."

"No, it's not. I like you, and I didn't realize until you kissed me. Like I like you like you."

"Okay, I think it's time to go to bed," Paige said.

"No," Emily said, pulling Paige towards her.

"Em…please."

"Paige…sssshhhhh," Emily said, pulling Paige closer until their lips were almost touching.

Paige tried to control herself, but she couldn't. She closed the gap between their lips. Paige's body felt Emily's electricity surge within her. Their lips moved in-sync, like the missing piece to a puzzle. Emily's hands tangled in Paige's hair pulling her closer. Emily trailed kisses down Paige's neck before finding a spot that she could leave her mark.

Paige caught herself mid-moan as Emily sucked and bit at her neck. "What am I doing?" Paige quickly untangled herself from Emily, who looked her by the gesture.

"Did I do something wrong?"

"No, of course not," Paige said, realize that actions were misinterpreted. Emily was drunk, well she was beyond drunk. She was wasted. Paige needed to stop herself before things went too far. She didn't want to take advantage of a vulnerable Emily, and what if this wasn't how Emily felt? What if it was just the alcohol talking? "You should get some rest."

"Okay," Emily said somberly. "You'll stay though?"

"Yeah."

Emily curled up next to Paige and rested her head on Paige's chest. Paige hoped that Emily wouldn't hear her heart racing and pounding of her heart.

Within a few minutes, Paige heard quiet snores coming from Emily. She carefully untangled herself and took a seat in the chair next to Emily's bed.

"What have I gotten myself into…"


	14. Chapter 14

**Hey guys! I hope you enjoyed the last chapter...The drunken saga continues. I whipped this chapter up today, so I apologize if there are any errors in it. I will go through it later and fix everything, but I wanted to get it up for you guys to read. Anyways I hope you enjoy this chapter. Please let me know what you think, comments, concerns, suggestions, criticisms, etc.**

 **Chapter 14**

Emily awoke with a pounding headache the next morning. The room was still dark, but the blinds had been drawn shut. Emily glanced around…she wasn't in the clothes she went to party in, there was a trash can next to her bed, and Paige was fast asleep in the recliner next to her bed.

Emily felt a wave of embarrassment wash over. Paige must have stayed up all night taking care of her. She glanced over at her clock: 10:30am.

"Paige," she whispered. Paige stirred slightly but remained asleep. She squinted to get a closer at the mark on Paige's neck. A hickey! Who gave her that? "Paige!"

Paige jerked awake. It took a moment to figure out where she was. "What? What's wrong? Are you okay?" Paige asked, noticing that Emily was staring at her.

"I feel like I've been hit by a bus that was hit by a bus."

"Here, drink some water," Paige said, grabbing the water bottle that was resting on the night stand.

"What the hell happened last night?"

"You don't remember?" Paige asked sadly.

"It's all a blur, the last thing I remember was Shana slapping me. That happened, right?"

"Yeah…that happened" Paige chuckled.

"I guess she doesn't let things go."

"I guess not," Paige said, cracking a smile.

"I'm sorry if I was a mess last night."

"It's okay, at least I got to hear your rendition of "Baby, It's Cold Outside" and watch you break out some hidden dance moves."

"Oh god, really!" Emily cheeks flushed with embarrassment. "Well it looks like you got your midnight kiss."

"What?" Paige asked confused. Emily pointed the hickey on Paige's neck. Paige's hands quickly shot up to cover the hickey. She forgot about that. "Oh…this…it's nothing."

"Oh sure," Emily joked, taking a swing of water. "Well whoever she is, she's probably better than Shana." There was an awkward silence. "Oh please tell me it wasn't Shana."

"What! Oh god No!" _It was you Emily._

"Thank god!" Paige's heart sunk more and more and she realized that Emily's recollection of last night was gone. Emily on the other hand, felt like her heart had taken a hit. She knew that she shouldn't expect Paige to be hers, but she couldn't help feeling jealous that Paige had gotten a midnight kiss from someone.

"Yeah…"

"Thanks for taking care of me last night. I apologize if I ruined your clothes or anything."

"Anytime…and you didn't ruin anything. I just hope that you had fun last night, until…you know."

"Oh I had a blast. That was one of the most exciting parties that I've been to, besides getting slapped, hurling, and not remembering anything it was great."

Emily spent the rest of day in bed. Her hangover was the worst hangover that she had ever experience. She swore that she would never drink that much ever again. Paige brought her a hearty breakfast to help her stomach.

They spent most the afternoon watching movies. Paige left to milk the cows and tend to the horses, but came back just in to catch the end of the movie.

It was around 4:30pm, when they heard Paige's parents return from Atlanta. Emily tried to mask her hangover as best she could as they headed downstairs.

"Hey girl!" Christine said as they enter the kitchen.

"Hey mom."

"So how was your New Year's?"

"Pretty chilled. We grabbed a few pizzas and watched movies," Paige lied. Emily was shocked to hear Paige lie.

"That sounds lie fun! What did you guys watch?"

"More Disney movies than I can count," Paige joked.

Christine interrogated them for a few more minutes before deciding that they were telling the truth.

"Paige McCullers…lying to your mother. How shameful!" Emily said, pretending to be disappointed.

"Caught me," Paige said putting her hands up. "Trust me she would flip if she caught me drinking."

"Why's that?"

"Drinking and driving is a no go in Christine books, but I'm responsible."

"That you are."

"She's overprotective sometimes, but I can understand where it comes from."

"She almost lost you."

"I know, but enough with the sad parts…I'm just happy to be here."

"Well, that makes two of us," Emily smiled.

Paige wished that Emily remembered last night, but it was clear that she didn't. Paige kept replaying the events, but she was more focused on whether it was Emily talking or the alcohol. Some people say that alcohol brings out your true self and do things that you otherwise wouldn't. Maybe that's what happened to Emily, but she was didn't want to bring of something that Emily didn't even remember.

"Okay, what's up?" Emily asked, after she noticed that Paige had been spacing out for the past hour.

"What?" Paige said, bringing herself back into the moment.

"You've been spacing out for the past hour…"

"What?"

"See…" Emily said making her point.

"Sorry."

"What's up? I can literally see the wheels turning back there," Emily said moving her finger in front of Paige.

"I was just thinking."

"About what?"

"Just…thinking…" Paige said plainly.

"Uh-huh, sure," Emily said, returning her attention back to the TV.

"Actually, I should probably go. I told Sydney that I'd help her try and peg Chris from Chemistry."

"Oh…Chris…really?"

"I guess so," Paige snickered. "I guess I'll see you later."

"Yeah, sounds good," Emily said. She wished that Paige wouldn't leave. She was still trying to make sense of last night, but she had a feeling that Paige wasn't telling her something. At first she thought that maybe she hooked up with someone, but she confirmed that she didn't. But Paige…Paige got some action from someone last night, which made Emily's heart ache just a little bit more.

Paige let out a frustrated sigh as her laid back on Sydney's bed. Sydney had cleaned the place up since last night, which surprised Paige.

"So…last night was crazy…" Sydney said, taking a seat next to Paige.

"Tell me about it," Paige said grabbing a pillow.

"I should have mentioned that Shana was coming."

"It's okay…it's not your fault…I kinda lost it…"

"She slapped Emily, which is a low blow even for my standards. She had no right to call you out like that."

"I guess I saw it coming. I just didn't want Emily to get involved."

"Yeah…well…shit happens," Sydney said, rolling over to face Paige. "But I sense there something else."

"After my fight with Shana, I came in and found Emily dancing on the table. Everything…it happened so fast…one minute people were starting the countdown and the next Emily was kissing me."

"Wait…Emily kissed you?"

"That's not even the worse part…she ended up drinking too much and ended hurling for hours."

"Oh…well that's a cold shower."

"No…that's not even my point."

"Wait…there's more?"

"I got her cleaned up after she stopped throwing up, and then one thing led to another-"

"She's the one who gave you that!" Sydney shouted pointing to the hickey. Paige nodded. "So she does have feelings for you!"

"She said that she liked me."

"Well that's great!"

"Yeah, only problem is that she doesn't remember anything from last night! The last thing she remembers was being slapped by Shana. She thinks that some random girl gave this to me last night."

"Oh…." Paige let out a muffed scream through the pillow.

"What do I do? Was it the alcohol talking or Emily?"

"Well…you know alcohol makes you…"

"…do things you wouldn't otherwise do…" Paige said completing Sydney's sentence. "So you think that Emily has feelings for me?"

"Well how heated did it get for you two last night?"

"I don't know…heated?"

"And she doesn't remember anything?"

"She says it's all a blur."

"So she might remember it with time?"

"Maybe, I don't know. Jesus…I didn't think that things could get worse."

"Yeah…you're really gotten yourself in a twist."

"Oh jezz…no shit Sherlock. Seriously Syd…what do I do? My hearts telling me one thing, but my minds telling me another."

"Well Emily must obviously have feeling for you that she's not willing to admit or is afraid to admit...don't push her. She needs to figure this out by herself."

"So I just don't tell her, and hopes that she remembers?"

"Got any other ideas?"

"No…" Paige groaned. "What is she never figures it out?"

"Well you two did manage to get action twice in one night so I have no doubt that you'll be waiting long."

"But what if I am…I can't take that."

"Okay, how about this…if Emily doesn't remember or figure 'it out' by the end of midterms …tell her."

"Just tell her…like everything?"

"Yeah. Paige, you can't torture yourself forever. It's better to know the truth that to keep telling yourself that it's the truth…You deserve to be happy."

Emily heard Paige climbing the stairs a little after midnight. She thought about getting up and talking to her, but she was too tired from the hangover to do anything. She just listened to the sound of Paige brushing her teeth.

Paige thought about popping into Emily's room to see if she needed, but her lights were off and she probably needed to get some rest before school tomorrow. She took a deep breath in, and admired the hickey in the mirror. Emily can really work wonders.

Paige went to bed content that night. She had a plan for once in her life, and even if it didn't go the way that she wanted…she still had a plan. Emily meant everything to her, and she had a feeling that she meant something to Emily.

Emily, for the first time since she got to Georgia, was ready before Paige was. Paige's door was still closed when Emily went into the bathroom, and she didn't hear Paige at all while she was getting ready. It was only when she was about to head downstairs that she heard Paige in the bathroom.

Paige scrambled to get ready that morning. She threw on jeans and a flannel, and choose a reasonable scarf to cover up the hickey, before throwing her hair into a messy bun.

"Someone's late," Emily laughed, when she saw Paige hurrying down the stairs.

"Sorry, I slept through my alarm. Ready?" Paige shouldered her swim bag and backpack before grabbing her keys.

"Lead the way," Emily said, following Paige out to her truck.

The ride to school was a silent one. Emily thought about trying to make simple talk, but Paige seemed to more focused on the road, then on wanting to talk. When they pulled into the school parking lot, Emily finally decided to break the silence.

"Everything okay?" Paige gave Emily a look of confusion.

"Why wouldn't it be?" Paige asked a little harsh than she meant.

"I don't know…you just seem a little out of it, I guess."

"Sorry…" Paige dipped her head. "I've just had a lot on my mind lately…I guess I was just spacing out."

"Okay…" Emily said, not entirely convinced by Paige's answer, but she decided not to push. "Well, I'm here if you want to talk or anything."

"I know," Paige said, before getting out of the car. "This is something that I have to figure out on my own."

"Okay."

"Here," Paige said tossing her keys in Emily's direction. "I have practice after school, but I'll hitch a ride from Syd."

"Okay."

They made their way into the building before parting down opposite hallways. Emily couldn't wrap her mind around what might be bothering Paige. She tried to think back to that night but everything was a blur. She remembered bits and pieces, but she couldn't make sense of them. _Had something happened at the party to make Paige be this way?_ She didn't know, but she was determined to find out.

When lunch came around, she took her usual place and waited for Sam to appear. She remembered playing Kings with Sam before everything happened, so maybe she might be able to help put the pieces together from that night.

"Wow, Em, surprised to see that you're still alive," Sam said, taking a seat next to Emily.

"I don't know about that. I still feel like I got hit by a bus."

"I bet," Sam laughed. "I don't think that I've ever seen anyone drink as much as you did."

"I don't think that I'll ever drink that much ever again…" Emily said, rubbing her temples. "I need your help though."

"Everything, okay?"

"I don't know. I don't remember anything from that night. It's all a blur. I asked Paige about it, but I think she's holding something back from me."

"Why would she do that?"

"I don't know. That's why I'm trying to remember."

"Okay, well what's the last thing that you remember?"

"Shana coming in slapping me, and then me reaching for that handle. After that…it's a big ass blur."

"Well okay…" Sam said rapping her brains. "Paige took Shana outside, and they started arguing and then Sydney went out to break them up. By that time, you were on the table dancing your ass off."

"Oh god," Emily said, letting her head fall into her hands. "I feel like an idiot."

"Don't worry, I think people were more preoccupied with finding someone to kiss when the clock struck twelve."

"What happened next?"

"Paige came back into the house looking for you, and then she tried to get you off the table."

Slowly memories were starting to come back to her. She remember Paige pulling her off the table, and getting her back on the ground, but it was still blurred. "What happened next?"

"I wish I could tell you, but I was getting my own midnight kiss. The last time I saw you…you were running out of the house with your hand over your mouth like you were about the throw up."

"That's probably because I was…" Emily mumbled.

"Hey…don't worry. These things come back with time. I've known Paige for a long time…if she doesn't want to tell you something…it's probably for a good reason…but all you have to do it ask, and she just might tell."

Emily thought about Sam's words. Maybe she should just go straight up to Paige and asked her what happened that night. She wondered if she'd been kissed at the stroke of twelve; there was a minute that she couldn't account for. She thought about what Paige had said, that she did kiss someone, but it only made sense if…

"Holy shit…" Emily whispered, her eyes widening.

"What?"

"I-I think I kissed Paige…"


	15. Chapter 15

**Hey guys! Hope you enjoyed the last chapter...it got a little bit exciting, but I don't want to keep you all waiting. Let me know what you think of this chapter! I hope you like it.**

 **Chapter 15**

Emily spent the night tossing and turning. She couldn't get the thought of New Year's out of her head. The only thing that she was certain of was that there was a high chance that Paige was her New Year's kiss, and that didn't bother her at all. The thing that bothered her was that there was still a portion of the night was that she couldn't account for and Paige had withheld information form her. What happened after they left Sydney's?

"Morning," Paige said, greeting Emily in the bathroom.

"Morning."

"You okay?" Paige asked, sensing that something was off.

"Yeah…I'm fine. Just didn't sleep well," Emily mumbled.

They went through the usually routine of the day. Paige handed Emily her keys, they went to class, Emily came home and paced around her room for hours, Paige came home and thought about telling Emily right then and there, but in the end they both ended up going to bed having accomplished nothing.

A week went by and Emily was starting to wonder if she would ever remember. She found herself being preoccupied with midterms, that whenever her and Paige were together they were usually helping each other study.

"Okay…I don't know about you, but I need a study break," Paige said, closing her textbook in frustration. "Wanna take a ride?"

"Sure," Emily responded.

They made their way out to the barn in silence. Paige had noticed that Emily had been recluse since New Year's and she knew why. She'd heard Emily blasting, "Baby, It's Cold Outside" for about an hour one day. She'd caught a glimpse of Emily dancing like a maniac on her bed. Everything was an effort to try and remember. She couldn't wait until after midterms were over. She felt like every second that past was just adding to the dynamite inside her.

They rode silently into the meadow and took a seat under the oak tree. Paige wrapped a blanket around them.

"You okay?" Paige asked, looking directly into Emily's eyes. They glistened for a moment before Emily broke contact.

"Paige…there's something that I need to ask you..." Emily started to feel the butterflies building up inside. "…and I need to tell me the truth."

"Emily…" Paige gulped. The nerves inside were starting to build up. She already knew that question that Emily.

"Paige…what happened that night?"

Paige took a deep breath before continuing. "After I came back inside, I found you dancing away on the table. I tried to get you down and everything…it just happened so fast and…"

"I kissed you," Emily said, finishing Paige's sentence.

Paige eyes went wide. "You remember?"

"Not really, but I was able to put two and two together. Why didn't you tell me?"

Paige dipped her head with shame. "I wanted to…I just…I was afraid." Paige picked at the few strands of grass of her feet. "Twelve years ago, I walked away from you." Paige let out a light laugh. "Who knew a 6-year-old could know what love is? I thought my heart would never heal." Paige glanced up at Emily. "I told myself that I would someone else. I found Shana, but I never felt whole, you know. Then one day, my mom comes into my room and tells me 'Emily Fields is coming to stay with us for a little while. You remember her right?'"

"Paige."

"Please, if I don't say it. I'm never going to." Emily nodded for Paige to continue. "I thought that it was a miracle that you were coming to stay with us. I knew that nothing could happen between us, you had a boyfriend and I was dating Shana. And then all of this happened, and I feel as if my whole world is crumbling before me. The one thing that I was sure of is that you're my friend and I wouldn't do anything to jeopardize that…but now, I'm not so sure. With all that's been happening…I don't know what do to anymore."

Emily sat there silently letting Paige's words sink in. _Paige loves me. She always has._ Emily couldn't formulate words to describe her feelings, so she wrapped Paige in a gentle embrace, trying to reassure her that everything was going to be 'okay'.

"I'm sorry Em," Paige whispered.

"You have nothing to be sorry for Paige."

Emily let the hot water run over. Her mind was full of thoughts that she couldn't comprehend. Paige has genuine feelings for Emily, and Emily, well; she didn't know what her feelings were.

She threw on a sweatshirt that was lying on her floor before grabbing her phone. She rolled it over a few times in her hands, before dialing.

"Hello?"

"Spencer. It's Emily."

"Emily! Hey," Spencer replied, happily. "Wow, how are you? I feel like I haven't talked to you in forever."

"I know. It's been too long."

"How are you? How's the farm?"

"Farm's good. I learned how to ride a horse," Emily laughed softly.

"How'd they get you on it?" Spencer joked. Emily let out a light laugh before their conversation was replaced with a long awkward silence. "Is everything okay?"

Emily scoffed slightly, not knowing how to respond to Spencer's questions. She rubbed her temples for a moment before staring down at her phone.

"Em? You still here?" Spencer voice rang throughout Emily's voice. Emily stared at her phone for a few seconds long before picking it up.

"Yeah, Spence, I'm still here…" she sighed.

"What's going on? Did you get a text or something?" _No._ "Did the daughter do something to you?" _Yes._

"No… I didn't get any texts."

"So then it's the daughter…" Emily didn't respond immediately, leading Spencer to think that it was something with Paige. "Did she hurt you Em?" _No. Maybe._ "Did she spread rumors or something?"

"No…no…it's nothing like that."

"What's going on Em? I can't help you if you don't talk to me."

"I know…I just don't know how to."

"Okay. We'll let's work through it," Spencer replied warmly.

"Have you ever felt something, like a spark or like a flutter…"

"With another person?"

"Yeah."

"Of course. I felt it when I met Toby."

"What did it feel like?"

"We were just friends at the start. He'd always do these little things for me, you know, like buy me coffee or give me a lift to school. I don't really remember when we became more that just friends. But I remember the way my heart would skip a beat when I saw him, the way my cheeks burned when he smiled, or the butterflies I'd get in my stomach whenever he touched me. I'm sure it's different for everyone, even you and Ben right?"

Emily thought about what Spencer had said. She tried to think back on a moment where she had butterflies in her stomach or when her heart skipped a beat. The only time she got butterflies in her stomach was when she kissed Alison years ago. She didn't get that thrill when she was kissing Ben.

She never knew how to describe her relationship with Ben. They were boyfriend/girlfriend, they went on dates, they kissed each other, they'd had sex before; they did everything a normal couple would do. The only reason that she started dating Ben was because all of her other friends were starting to date. She felt like she had an obligation to date someone, and Ben, who happened to be one of her closest friends, asked her out. She thought that maybe since they were friends, it wouldn't be so bad dating. It would just be like friends, but with kissing.

Suddenly Emily realized that reality was crashing down on her shoulders. She never had feelings for Ben, because she had feelings for Alison, and now she has feelings for Paige. Her mind suddenly flashed back to all the time Paige made her smile, the times she slept next to Paige, the time she kissed Alison. Every time her heart flutter, skipped a beat. She never felt anything for Ben because she wasn't attracted to him. She knew it and there was nothing that she could do about it.

"Em? Em please talk to me," Spencer pleaded. "Whatever's going on we can talk about it."

"Spence…I, uh, I..." Emily felt like the world was spinning around her, pointing her in the right direction. "…I'm gay." As soon as she said it; she felt as if a weight had been lifted from her shoulders. There was a long pause on the other side of the phone. Emily felt her nerves starting to build up as the silence continued.

"Yeah…I kinda figured," Spencer said happily.

"Wait, what? How?"

"Oh come on Emily…I have eyes. And besides, you never talked about Ben the way I talk about Toby or how Hanna talks about Caleb. But you loved spending time with Allison."

"Why didn't you tell me?"

"It isn't something for me to tell. You have to figure out who you are and who you want to be on your own."

"Do you think the others know?"

"Aria might, but Hanna's dumb as a rock sometimes." Emily let out a laugh. "Em, you're still the same Em I grew up with, and you're still the same Em I love. It doesn't matter if want to date a woman. That's the least of my concerns. As long as you're happy, I'm happy."

"I think I am happy," Emily said, cracking a smile for the first time in weeks.

"That's great. I'm really happy for you. If I were there I'd give you a giant hug!"

"Thanks." This was the first real support that Emily had felt since coming to terms with who she was. She'd lied and hide her feeling for so many years, it felt like today, in this moment, she was taking her first breath of fresh air.

"So tell me about her."

"She's…amazing…" Emily smiled. "She's got the kindest eyes you've ever seen, and her voice…god…it's beautiful, but most of all…she gets me. She know every way to make me smile even when I'm down." The more Emily described what she loved about Paige, the more she realized that, maybe this could work. Maybe I could be with Paige? Maybe I can make her heart whole again?

"She sounds amazing Emily. I'm really happy for you."

"Thanks Spence, and thank you for supporting me."

"Hey, I'm always here. I love you Em, no matter what."

"Love you, Spence."

Emily heard the line do dead before taking a seat on her bed and getting out a fulfilling sigh. A smiled appeared on her lips that she couldn't erase. She tried but every time it would creep back.

"I'm gay," she whispered to herself. "I'm gay." Another laugh. "I'm gay…" She lay back in bed smiling at her accomplishment.

"Well someone looks happy," Paige said, standing in the doorway; her hair still slightly damp from the pool.

"I guess I am," Emily said smiling. She thought about telling Paige, but chose against it. She didn't want to overwhelm her after everything that had happened that day.

"That's good. Nice sweatshirt," Paige said, before retreating into her room.

Emily glanced down at the sweatshirt and realized that it wasn't hers. _McCullers_ was written in mahogany letters on the sleeve with _Swimming & Diving _underneath. It was at moment that memories started rushing in.

 _"_ _Emily!...Emily!..." She glanced down and saw Paige standing at the edge of table looking up at her in slight horror._

 _"_ _P-paiiiigggeee!"_

 _"_ _Alright, time to go home." Emily felt Paige's strong arms wrap around her, and gently guided her off the table._

 _"_ _B-but the baalll hasnn't droopped," Emily smiled, staring into Paige's eyes. She never realized how beautiful until now._

 _"_ _Come on." Emily didn't hear her. She was too focused taking in Paige, in all her glory._

 _"_ _Pai-ge I li-like yooouuu." She heard Paige shout back a confused 'what?' but she didn't care. All she wanted to do was kiss those soft lips. She heard people around her shouting 'one', and she leaned in and captured Paige's lips. It was the most blissful second of her life, but the nerves and butterflies hit her stomach like a rock._

Emily rubbed her temples, as the memories continued to flow in. She had been the one to kiss Paige, not the other way around, and she had told Paige that she had feeling her.

 _"_ _How ya feeling?" Paige asked, taking a seat next to her._

"S _hanaaa's a bitch," Emily slurred._

 _"_ _Yeah," Paige chuckled._

 _"_ _Paige, I drank, toooo much," She didn't catch what Paige said, but a few minutes later Paige was handing her a can of ginger ale and saltines._

 _"_ _How about we get you cleaned up?"_

 _"_ _Y-es,"_

 _"_ _Damnit, why are there so many damn holes in this thing?" Emily whispered to herself, After a few minutes of trying she caved in. "Ppaige. I'm stuck."_

 _"_ _Here," Paige said, helping. When they made eye contact, Emily realized how red Paige's cheeks were and how every so often her eyes would drift downwards. "You think you can do the rest?"_

 _"_ _Have youu never undressed a girl before?" Emily joked, buttoning her pants. She didn't know where she got the courage to say that, maybe the alcohol, but she liked the way it made Paige squirm._

 _"_ _I'll be outside if you need anything," Paige said averting her eyes. She quickly left, closing the door behind her._

 _"_ _Baby, it's cold outside, I really can't stay, I've got to away, but baby it's COLD OUTSIDE…." Emily sang, as she stepped under the hot water._

Emily stared blankly at the ceiling, surprised by her confidence. She'd gotten Paige to squirm for once. She laughed as she remembered her rendition of _Baby It's Cold Outside._ But just when she thought that night was over, another memory came rushing in.

 _"_ _How ya feeling now?" Paige asked stepping into her room._

 _"_ _D-drunk."_

 _"_ _Oh-okay…" Paige said, setting down a trash can next to her bed._

 _Emily watched as Paige turned to leave and suddenly she didn't want Paige to leave. "Wait, doon't leave me." Emily grasped Paige's hand and pulled her back onto the bed._

 _"_ _Okay." Emily could have sworn she saw a glisten in Paige's eye._

 _"_ _You wanna know something…" Emily starting. She was going to tell Paige just how she felt. This was her moment, every since that kiss she's wanted to taste Paige even more._

 _"_ _What?"_

 _Emily thought that the words would roll off her tongue, easy as that, but they didn't. She stared blankly at Paige and said the first thing that came to her mind. "You're a good kisser." What? What the hell was that Emily?_

 _"_ _Thanks?" Emily noted the uncomfortable tone in Paige's voice, but her mouth was faster that her brain._

 _"_ _I would kiss you, but—"_

 _"_ _It's okay," Paige said cutting her off. Great job brain, Emily thought._

 _"_ _No, it's not that…" Emily said, speaking slowly. She was confident this time. This time she knew what she was going to say. "I like you, and I didn't realize until you kissed. Like I like you like you." Not the best she was hoping for, but it got her point across._

 _"_ _Okay, I think it's time for bed," Paige said, getting up. Obviously Paige hadn't gotten it._

 _"_ _No." Emily grabbed Paige and pulled her closer to her. She noticed that as much as Paige was uncomfortable, she didn't pull back._

 _"_ _Em…please…" It was as if Emily sensed the pleading in Paige's voice._

 _"_ _Paige…shhhhhhhhh." Emily pulled Paige closer until their lips were almost touching. She felt Paige's breath hitch. But the fire was glowing bright in Paige's eyes and she leaned in and closed the space between them._

 _Emily felt her body fill with an unfamiliar warmth. Everywhere Paige's hands roamed, a tingling sensation was left behind. Emily felt Paige's hand slip under the hem of her sweatshirt._

 _Emily felt herself begin to wonder, trailing kiss down Paige's neck, before gently sucking on her pulse point._

 _"_ _What I am doing?" She heard Paige whisper, before pulling away from her._

 _"_ _Did I do something wrong?" Emily asked hurt._

 _"_ _No, of course not. You should get some rest."_

Emily sat that in shock. The memories, everything, she had been the one who initiated it all. She had been the one who let herself get carried away, and Paige had been the one who didn't want to let herself get carried away.

Paige hadn't told her about what happened after the kiss and after their talk in the meadow…she understood why.

"Shit…" she whispered to herself.

She couldn't deny that she had feeling for Paige, and looking back on it…maybe she always had feelings for Paige. It was like Spencer said, she had to figure it out on her own…and she had.

The rush of realization made it hard for her to get any sleep that night. She wanted to tell Paige and she remembered, and that Paige wasn't crazy and Emily had feelings for her, but she didn't want to hurt their friendship. After everything that happened, there friendship was on the tipping point; one mistake and everything might change.


	16. Chapter 16

**Sorry for the long wait guys...last week was a rough one.**

 **I hope you enjoy this chapter because Paily is finally happening. I know it took a really long time, but I hope this chapter does that wait justice. Please let me know what you think. Love you all.**

 **Chapter 16**

Paige was up before the sun. She couldn't sleep that night. She spent all night tossing and turning. She let out a frustrated sigh, before rolling out of bed. She threw on an old pair of jeans and a sweatshirt before heading downstairs.

Her parents had left Thursday night to drive down to Florida to get supplies for the barn and animals, which meant that Paige was felt with the Saturday Haul. Thankfully it wasn't growing season, so all she had to do was tends to animals and clean the barn.

She made herself a piping hot cup of coffee before heading out to the barn. The sun was coming up just over the horizon, spreading a beautiful glow throughout the barn.

"Hey buddy," Paige whispered, Alfie gently.

Paige grabbed the bin of brushes, flicked on the radio and got to work. The music gave her a distraction from the events of the past few weeks. Emily hadn't said much to her since Paige confessed that she's loved her ever since they were young. _Who wouldn't feel uncomfortable after hearing something like that?_ She caught Emily smiling about a week ago, but she hadn't seen Emily smile like that since.

She finished grooming Alfie and Beanie, gathered the eggs, feed the chickens, milked the cows, and swept the barn. She threw four canisters of milk into the back of her truck before doing the daily delivers.

When she got back she found Emily leaning against the porch door. Emily's eyes followed her as she got out of her truck.

"Hey," Paige said, approaching Emily.

"Hey."

"Everything okay?"

"Not really," Emily said, looking down at her hands. "Can we get out of here?"

"Yeah, of course," Paige said, following Emily to the car. "Where to?"

"Anywhere but here," Emily said, looking out the passenger side window.

Paige knew just the place. It was quite and secluded. Not many people knew about it, or if they did they just chose never to go. It was a small waterfall about 30 minute away from the house. Her dad used to take her there all time when she was sad. He told her that it was McCullers's secret.

Emily watched the scenery past by her. She spent all night mustering up all the courage, hope, love, and whatever else there was to muster for today. She thought about everything that she was going to say to Paige. She'd repeated the lines over and over again, trying to commit them to memory. But in the ended, she decided that she needed to be herself if she wanted this to work.

Emily was surprised she saw Paige drive off the road and park. This wasn't exactly what she had in mind when she asked Paige to take her somewhere. Paige quickly got out of the truck and made her way over to Emily's door.

"Paige, where are we?" Emily asked, as Paige opened her door.

"Don't worry…we're not there yet. Com'on," Paige said holding out her hand.

Emily hesitated for a moment, but eventually grabbed Paige's hand. Paige led her down the grassy slope. They weaved through bushes and trees, until Emily heard the faint sound of running water. A few minutes, after hiking upwards, they stepped onto a clearing. Emily peered out across the edge. Before her was a small, yet beautiful waterfall. It was maybe only 8 feet tall, but it was still breathtaking.

"Where are we?"

"Well…I can't tell you. It's a McCullers family secret."

"Ah," Emily said, nodding. She took a seat on the blanket Paige had just laid out.

"So…do you want to talk about it?" Emily didn't respond, so Paige decided to probe a little. "Did something happen back home? Is someone trying to hurt you again?"

"No, it's nothing like that."

"Okay…" Paige said, deciding that she should just let Emily tell her herself.

They sat there silently listening the waterfall. It was quiet, almost serene. Emily leaned forward and rested her head in her hands.

"Everything happens for a reason, right?" Emily said, just above a whisper.

"I like to think so, but you already knew that."

Emily felt as if her heart was going to pound out of her chest. All of her hours of practicing what to say went out the door. Her cheeks burned, as the silence between them continued.

"What's up Em?" Paige asked, now looking concerned.

"Why didn't you tell me what happened that night after we kissed?" It was Paige's turn to turn bright red. She dipped her head shamefully.

"I didn't want to hurt you. I thought that maybe if you didn't find out, we could just pretend like it never happened."

"Why?"

"Because…for so long, I've had feeling for you. And for everything to just happen, like that, scared me. I didn't want to take advantage of you in that state that you were in, and have you wake up, regret everything, and hate me."

"I couldn't hate you Paige, even if I tried." Paige lips curled into a weak smile. "I think coming here, to Georgia, was the best thing that ever happened to me." Paige turned to face, intrigued by what Emily was about to say. "I used to think that I had my life all figured out, and then with everything that's happened, it's given me to chance to look back at the life that I had." "I realized that I was missing piece of me…a piece that would make me feel whole, you know." Paige nodded. "Paige, for the first time in my life…I feel whole. Being here, being with you makes me feel whole."

Emily saw the twinkle in Paige's eyes. "For years, I've told myself that I wasn't gay…I couldn't be gay. And then, you came back into my life, and everything changed. Everything about you, Paige, makes me go crazy. The way to laugh…the way you smile." Emily let out a laugh, as she realized just how cheesy this sounded. "Ever since you kissed, I haven't been able to get you out my mind."

"Em…"

"This isn't a phase or me experimenting—"

"I know," Paige said, cutting her off.

"Paige," Emily said, taking a seat next to Paige. "You decide what happens next, and whatever you decide on…I'll respect it."

She understood if Paige didn't want to start a relationship with her, after all she could leave at any minute, and they might not see each other again. She knew that maybe Paige didn't want to risk getting her heart broken after Shana, but Paige had professed that she did have feeling for Emily. Maybe it was just that Paige wasn't ready to act on those feelings.

After a long silence between the two, Emily made a motion to get up, but Paige quickly grabbed her and pulled her back down. Emily felt her breath hitch as Paige pulled her closer.

"I lost you once," Paige whispered. "I can't lose you again."

"You won't," Emily whispered back, before taking a leap of faith and closing the gap between them.

Paige's lips were so soft, and taste a little bit like peppermint. Emily pulled Paige on top of her, making every effort to pull her closer. She felt Paige's tongue slide gently across her bottom lip, which Emily gratefully granted access. She felt herself beginning to melt underneath Paige. Emily felt everything, her body, her lips, Paige, everything. Paige's hand rested firmly on her side, while the other ran through her hair. Paige finally pulled away when air became an issue. Emily felt her cheeks grow bright red and she breathed heavily against Paige.

Paige gently moved to tuck a stand of hair behind Emily's ear. The movement was so gentle, yet sensual at the same time.

"So this is really happening?"

"It really is," Emily laughed, kissing Paige once again.

Paige couldn't control her smile. For so long she wished for this moment to happen, and it was even better than she imagined. Everything about Emily was so much better than she imagined.

Paige rolled off of Emily, and Emily cuddled up next to Paige, while Paige wrapped a comforting arm around Emily. They didn't know how much time had past since they got there, but they were to absorbed in each other.

"Have you told your mom yet?" Paige said, running her fingers gently through Emily's hair. Emily shook her head.

"Rosewood is a place where words spread quickly, just like here. Only Spencer knows." Paige nodded her head in acknowledgement. "I don't even know how to tell my mom."

"Just be honest," Paige said, kissing Emily's forehead. "She may not take it well, but if she sees that that's who you are and you're happy, she'll come around…eventually."

"I hope so," Emily said, nuzzling closer to Paige.

"We should, uh, probably head back soon. It looks like it's gonna rain."

Emily glanced up at the sky and noticed the dark grey clouds above them. Emily didn't want the moment to end, but she also didn't want to get caught in the storm. The quickly gathered their things and headed back to the truck.

The rain pounded on the roof of the truck as they made their way home. Emily thought this scene could have come straight of a romantic movie where the guy and girl are in a car and one of them professes their love and then they end of making out. She laughed at the thought.

Paige backed her truck into the barn next and quickly unloaded the empty milk canisters. They jogged through the rain back to the house. The rain was like a cold shower for the both of them. Paige chased Emily back to the house and tackled her before she hit the driveway.

"Ah Paige," Emily laughed, trying to fight Paige off of her. Paige straddled Emily, pinning her to the ground.

"Looks like your trapped," Paige joked.

"Oh yeah," Emily said, grabbing Paige's shirt and pulling her closer. "I think you're the one that's trapped." Emily pulled Paige into a kiss and quickly flipped them over. "Looks like I win." Emily jumped off Paige and hurried towards the house leaving Paige memorized on the ground.

Emily waited for Paige to reach to porch before she pulled Paige towards her. Paige's hands roamed Emily's body, before finding their way under Emily's shirt. Emily did everything she could to pull Paige closer to her. Paige worked her way down to Emily's exposed neck, kissing and sucking, leaving her mark.

"Girls, dinner's almost ready!" The sound of Christine's voice shocked them out of their trance. Neither of them had noticed the parent's car in the driveway. Paige quickly removed her hands from under Emily's shirt, and Emily let down her hair to cover of the fresh hickey. Neither of them had realized just how heated things had gotten.

"Coming!" Paige called back shakily. She let out a soft laugh, before rubbing the back of her neck. "I, uh, guess we should, um, go inside?"

"Yeah…" Emily said, dipping her head.

They waited a few seconds to calm down before heading in. They quickly made their way up to their own rooms to change. Paige needed space away from Emily to calm herself down. She quickly changed into looser dry clothing before heading back downstairs.

Emily fanned herself, trying to calm herself down. She felt the knots and butterflies growing in her stomach and her heart was still skipping several beats. She contained her excitement until she got to her room where she let to a squeal and did a happy dance. She'd never felt so happy and excited in her laugh. Everything that she imagined happening just happened ten times better. But a lingering feeling remained in the back of her head that she knew she would have to discuss with Paige one way or the other.

Both girls tried to control themselves during dinner. Christine sensed something was going on, but didn't question it; Nick on the other hand was completely clueless of his daughter's doings. When dinner was over they quickly headed back upstairs to Paige's room.

Emily rested her head on Paige's chest as Paige flipped on the TV. They lay their silently enjoying the company of each other. Emily ran gently circles around Paige's exposed collarbone.

"Em," Paige said quietly, turning to face her.

"Paige."

Paige let out a soft laugh. "Are you doing anything next weekend?" A small smile appeared on Emily's lips.

"Well, considering we live in the same house, and have basically the same schedules…"

"Right…I must have forgotten about that," Paige said, letting out a nervous laugh. "Anyways, would you want to go into the city with me, grab dinner, and…"

"Like a date?" Emily smiled.

"Emily Fields, will you got out with me next Saturday night?"

"Paige McCullers, will you be my girlfriend?" Emily countered. A smile appeared on Paige's lip.

"Only if you say 'yes'."

"Yes."

Emily smiled as she pulled Paige towards her. Paige's lips pressed against hers and she couldn't stop herself from smiling wider. For the first time in years, she felt as everything was falling in to place. She knew who she was, she knew what she wanted, who she wanted, and nothing could change her mind about this moment. In this moment, her life began anew. A new life with a new light at the end of the road.


	17. Chapter 17

Emily felt giddy as she flipped through her closet. She couldn't decide what to where for her date with Paige. She thought about what Paige would wear, and let out a gentle laugh. Paige hated dressing up, so she imagined that Paige would wear something casual but somewhat dressy. Emily eventually settled with jeans, blouse, boots and scarf.

The date happened to fall on Valentine's Day, which neither of them had planned. Paige had mentioned at some point that she wasn't into the whole Valentine's Day theme. In Paige's mind, every day should be dedicate to the person they love, not just one day out of the year, where extra love is shown.

It was around 3 o'clock, when Emily heard a knocking at her front door. She quickly checked herself in the mirror before opening the door. Paige stood in the doorway holding out a small bouquet of flowers. She'd dropped her casual attire and replaced it with black skinny jeans, a white dress shirt that wasn't tucked in all the way, and a navy blue sweater.

"Hi," Paige said, smiling when she caught sight of Emily.

"Hey. Are those for me?" Emily asked pointing at the flowers.

"Yeah!" Paige handed over the flowers. "I didn't know what kind you like, so I figured you can't wrong with roses."

Emily inhaled the sweet scent of the roses, before giving Paige a quick kiss. "There's beautiful."

"Shall we?" Paige asked, offering her arm. Emily let out a soft laugh as Paige's chivalry. She hooked her arm around Paige as they walked down the stairs.

The ride to Atlanta was filled with small talk and comfortable silences. At points, Emily felt herself being lulled to sleep by the hum of the truck's motor. About two hours later they pulled into a parking garage.

"So, what am I in for tonight?" Emily asked, as they walked down the street.

"Well…since we didn't realize Saturday was Valentine's, I wasn't able to get us in anywhere fancy." Paige took hold of Emily's hand and intertwined their fingers. They wondered around the city of Atlanta for about an hour, taking silly pictures and just talking.

"So, what are you in the mood for?" Paige asked, after noticing that Emily's stomach had been growling for a while.

"Sorry?"

"To eat," Paige laughed. "I'm pretty sure your stomach is hungry."

"Oh, haha, yeah, um, I could eat anything. What do they have around here?"

"They've got basically everything. Take your pick, but we might not be able to get into some places."

"How does sushi sound?" Emily suggested.

"Great!" Paige said, looking around for a sushi place.

They found a highly rated sushi bar a few blocks down. Surprised that there was still room at the restaurant, they waited a while to be seated, but there wasn't a moment of silence during their wait. They were seated in the back corner of the restaurant. It was quiet, and dimly lite. It was quite romantic, Emily thought.

"So, anything look good?" Paige asked, skimming over the menu.

"Yeah, they've got like everything I like," Emily said happily. "What about you?"

"Well…I'm not that much of a sushi expert, so I'm entrusting you with my dinner," Paige said, setting her menu down.

"Let me guess…you've never had sushi before…"

"Caught me," Paige laughed, putting her hands up innocently. "Hey you gotta try everything once right."

"Alright, well I think you'll like these," Emily said, before putting in their order.

"Well I like seafood, so I can't be that bad," Paige joked.

They talked for a little while longer before the first round of appetizers came. Paige glanced down at the bowl of what looked like green string beans. She picked up one up and examined it for a moment.

"It's edamame. It's like a green bean, but you just eat the beans inside," Emily said, popping the beans into her mouth.

"Oh that's good," Paige said, popping the beans into her mouth. They quickly finished the bowl of edamame before the main dishes arrived. They were several plates with various sushi rolls.

"Alright, so this one is salmon, and shrimp, crab, and I'm not sure that this one but it sounded good."

"Which one should I try first?" Paige asked, looking over the rolls.

"The salmon ones are always good."

"Great," Paige said, picking one up with her chopsticks. "What's this green stuff?"

"Wait Pai—" but it was too late. Paige had already taken a bit of the heavily green covered sushi roll. "It's…wasabi…" Emily watched Paige's face contort into ways she didn't even know was possible. She tried not to laugh as Paige gulped down water. Her eyes were watering.

"Holy shit," Paige said, trying to breath normally.

"Are you okay?" Emily said, trying to control her laughter. "I'm sorry…I should have told you it was spicy."

"I think I've permanently lost all of my taste buds," Paige said, laughing, while wiping away her tears. "Wow…"

"Okay, just eat another roll…it'll help get rid of the bad taste," Emily said, holding out of piece of sushi.

Paige gratefully took it and popped it into her mouth. The aftertaste and burning sensation slowly died down.

"So beside the wasabi, I think you're a sushi expert," Paige said, reaching for the bill.

"Ah," Emily said, grabbing Paige's hand. "I'm not letting you pay for all of this."

"Well, as I recall, usually the person who asks the other person out pays for the meal?"

"You know that's unfair."

"I know," Paige said, taking the check from Emily's hand. "How about you buy the ice cream?"

They paid for their meal and walked around for a bit before grabbing ice cream. They walked around the Centennial Olympic Park and the Piedmont Park.

"I think Georgia's starting to grow on me," Emily said, taking a seat on a nearby bench.

"Yeah?"

"Yeah. It's kinda of weird to think of home as home anymore. This feels more like home than anything." Emily admired her surrounding, including Paige. "You really did turn my world upside down."

"I could say the same thing," Paige said, kissing Emily gently.

They sat there, in silence, for a few more minutes. Seeing as they were now in a relationship, Emily didn't want there to be any secrets between them. "Paige…do you know why I'm really here?" Paige shook her head. She never asked Emily why she was here. Emily had let slipped that someone was after her, but that was all she knew.

"When I was a freshman, one of my friends, Alison, went missing. They looked for her everywhere, but after a year, they presumed she was dead. Summer before my junior year her parents moved away, and new people move in. The people that moved in were doing renovations to the backyard. They were tearing down the gazebo, when they found a body…"

"Em…you don't have to—"

"I've learned that trusting someone can go a long way. You should know," Emily said, sighing. "The body they found was Alison's. After the autopsy, they opened a murder investigation. We started receiving these texts soon after Alison went missing, then after a while they just stopped. When the murder investigation started up…so did the texts."

"What were these texts?"

"Threats…" Emily said quietly. "It was like the person who was sending them knew everything about us and everything that we've done. They threatened to used it against us, if we didn't do what they wanted us to. When we didn't, that's when all of this happened. I know it sounds ridiculous…"

"It's doesn't…" Paige said, reassuringly. "Look, you wouldn't be here if it weren't real. Have you gotten any updates?"

"No," Emily said shaking her head. "I check the news every so often, but I haven't seen anything."

"I'm sure they'll figure everything out, but for now…you're safe. No one here is trying to run you over with a car."

"That's good to know," Emily replied, smiling softly. "I'm glad I got stuck with you."

"So am I." Paige gave Emily a smile, before getting up. "Enough sad talk for now, we can get into later. We're on a date, and I've got a great idea."

"Where are we going?"

"Wait and see!"

Emily had no idea where Paige was taking her. They walked for about 30 minutes, before Emily realized that they were near where they had parked the truck. Emily glanced around and realized exactly where Paige was taking her. In front of her was a giant Ferris wheel illuminated with lights.

"Wow," Emily whispered, as they drew closer. Paige paid for their tickets and headed towards the line. "How high does this go?"

"High enough to see the lights of Atlanta."

They waited their turn before boarding the gondola. Emily stared out the window as the wheel began to turn, sending them upwards. The night lights of Atlanta came into view.

"Wow, this is incredible," Emily said, her face practically pressed against the glass.

"Here, turn around," Paige said, pulling out her phone. "Ready…smile." Paige snapped a quick picture of Emily. She knew that she couldn't share them with anyone, but she was okay with that.

Paige scooted closer to Emily and wrapped an arm around her. "This might be the best night of my life." She felt Emily laugh beneath her, before placing a gently kiss on her cheek.

"I think we've got better nights to come."

"Oh, really." Paige smirked, raising her eyebrow suggestively. Emily a shiver go through her body.

The debarked the gondola hand in hand. Tonight had been the perfect first date. Emily refused to let go Paige's hand as they drove home. Paige would occasionally run circles around Emily's thumb.

They pulled into the driveway a little after two in the morning. Emily tried to stifle a yawn as they made their way upstairs.

"We should probably get some sleep," Paige said, noticing how tired Emily looked.

"I like that idea," Emily yawned. They returned to their room and got dress for bed. Emily made her way to bathroom and quickly brushed her teeth. Paige appeared a few minutes later clad in sweatpants and a t-shirt.

"Hey."

"Hey." Paige smiled, and wrapped her arms around Emily's waist. They shared a chaste kiss.

"You're coming with me," Emily said, pulling Paige into her room. She watched Paige's eyes go wide with delight, but also fear. "Hey, just sleeping, promise."

"Okay," Paige said, getting into bed next to Emily.

Paige stretched out her arm, so that Emily could snuggle up next to her. Emily wrapped her arm around Paige's stomach, and rested her head gently on Paige's chest. The sweet sound of Paige's inhales and exhales slowly started to lull her to sleep.

"I had a great time tonight," Paige said softly.

"So did I," Emily smiled. "It's kinda the first time I felt like I was living a normal life."

"I'm glad. You deserve the best of everything."

"I'm really happy I found you," Emily said sleepily.

"So am I," Paige said, kissing Emily's head. "Happy Valentine's Day Em."


	18. Chapter 18

**Chapter 18**

Emily rolled the buzzing phone over in her hands. She glanced at the phone screen once more. _1 New Voicemail._ She recognized the number of the detective lighting up her screen again. _2 New Voicemails._ Her phone vibrated for a 3rd time, expected this time, Spencer's number popped up onto the screen.

"Oh Emily thank god you picked up," Spencer said, as soon as Emily picked up the phone.

"Spence, what the hell is going on?" Emily asked nervously. "Did you start getting texts?"

"No. Em…" Spencer hesitated. "It's Ali."

"What about her?" Emily asked confused. Alison was dead.

"It's her Em. Alison is A."

"What? That's impossible. Ali's dead Spence. We saw her with our own two eyes, dead on that table."

"I know. It doesn't make sense."

"Wait how do you know all of this?"

"My mom's a lawyer who happens to work with the police." There was a moment of silence. "Look, we can't talk for long, but talk to the detective. It's her Em. I don't know how and I don't know why, but it's her. It's Ali."

Emily felt her stomach turning, and moments later she found herself rushing towards the bathroom. She couldn't stop herself. The nerves were too much.

Paige saw Emily's light on when she pulled into the driveway. These past few weeks with Emily have been nothing but amazing. Paige felt herself falling more and more in love with Emily every day, but with every passing day she knew that her time with Emily was getting shorter.

She grabbed the pizza and movies that she had picked up on her way home from the meet. She thought she'd surprise Emily with a movie and pizza kind of date. She quickly made her way upstairs, when a horrible sound reached her ears.

Rushing to the bathroom, she found Emily hunched over the toilet. She dropped everything and quickly knelt down next to Emily, pulling her hair out of the way.

"Em," Paige said, rubbing gently circles around her back. "Hey, what happened?"

"I'm sorry," Emily moaned resting her head on the seat.

"For what?" Paige asked. "Did you eat something bad?" Emily shook her head, before taking in a shaky breathe.

"Paige you mean so much to me," Emily said weakly. "I don't want to lose you."

"Hey," Paige said, placing a gently hand on Emily's cheek. "I'm not going anywhere."

"Promise?"

"Promise," Paige said, placing a gently kiss on Emily's head. "Come on, let's get you cleaned up." Paige helped Emily to her feet, before grabbing a set of PJs and her towel.

Paige waited patiently as Emily got herself cleaned up. An hour later, Emily was curled up next to Paige.

"I'm sorry if I ruined your night?"

"You could never ruin everything," Paige laughed.

"Did you buy pizza?" Emily asked, spotting the pizza box on Paige's desk.

"Yeah, I thought that we could have a movie and pizza night," Paige said, holding up the DVD. "But don't worry, we can wait until you're feeling better."

"What, are you kidding me? I'm starving," Emily said hopping out of bed and snatching the box of pizza.

"Are you sure? You were just throwing up like an hour ago."

"I guess I must have gotten it out of my system," Emily said, taking a bite of pizza.

"Are you sure you're okay?" Paige asked skeptically, sensing that Emily wasn't telling her the truth.

"Yeah," Emily lied. She wanted to tell Paige about what was happening, but she didn't fully understand it herself. "Promise."

"Okay," Paige replied, sensing that Emily was done talking about the subject.

Emily put in the movie, before returning to Paige's side. She wrapped her arms tightly around Paige, fearing that at any moment she could ripped away from her. Emily felt Paige's breath even out, and soon soft snores filled the room.

"I love you Paige…" Emily whispered, before gently kissing Paige on the cheek.

Paige woke up to the vibrating of Emily's phone on her side. She quickly removed it and glanced at the screen. The number of the detective appeared on the screen. Paige silenced the phone and let it go to voicemail, fearing that the noise might wake Emily up, but as soon as the call ended, the detective was calling again.

"Em," Paige said, gently shaking Emily awake.

"Huh, wh-what?" Emily mumbled tiredly. "What's wrong?"

"The detective's calling you," Paige said, holding out the phone. Emily's eyes shot open, and she quickly snatched the phone from Paige. "I can give you some privacy."

"No, Paige, stay. I'm just going to take this outside," Emily said grabbing one of Paige's jacket. "Don't worry."

"Okay…" Paige said, laying back down. She watched as Emily slipped on a pair of shoes, before slipping out of the room. She waited until her heard the front door close, before getting out of bed, and heading towards the window.

"Hello?" Emily said picking up the phone.

"Emily, it's Detective Tanner."

"You better have a damn good explanation about what's going on here," Emily said, ignoring the pleasantries.

"Unfortunately we can't disclose that information at the moment."

"What do you mean you can't 'disclose' that information at the moment?"

"This is an extremely sensitive case Ms. Fields."

"Sensitive my ass," Emily said angrily. "Alison DiLaurentis is alive. Explain that to me!"

"Who did you obtain that information?"

"It doesn't matter how I've 'obtained' that information. What matter is how all of this is fucking possible." The detective took a deep breath before continuing.

Paige watched the from window as Emily threw her hands up in the air angrily. She could from her body language Emily was infuriated with the detective, which made Paige panic. Emily would only be that angry if it mean that something had progressed in her case. She watched carefully as Emily leaned wearily against the horse pen, her body hunched over as if the news she was receiving was devastating.

"So you're telling me that this whole time it was her?"

"I'm sorry to say so."

"And you think that this is enough?"

"It's enough to take it to court, and from there, all we can do it hope. But you do realize that once this goes to court you will need to return to Rosewood to testify."

"You expect us to return?" Emily snarled. "You're kidding right?"

"You're testimonies might help us put her away."

"You should be able to do that with all the evidence you gathered."

"Evidence is only circumstantial. We need your testimonies if we are ever going to have a chance to convict."

"You want us to be in the same room with the person that tried to kill us and make our lives a living hell."

"You and you friends will appear in court," the detective said sternly. "If not, the prosecution will subpoena for your appearance. We expect you to be in court by May."

"May!" Emily shouted. "That's a month from now!" Things were just getting worse and worse as the conversation continued. Emily felt the anger bubbling up inside of her. She was angry that Alison had been the one to put her through hell. Ali, the first girl that she every loved, had been capable of all this. But she was more angry about the fact that she would have to leave Paige. At this point, Paige was the only person who seemed to understand her, who knew the pain that she was going through, who understood her, who loved her, and she wasn't prepared to give that up so soon.

"I'll see you in court," the detective said, before hanging up the phone.

"I can't believe this!" Emily said angrily as she threw her phone as hard as she could against the wall. She was too focused to see Paige entering through the barn door.

"Woo…shit," Paige said, quickly backing away. The sound of the phone hitting the hall scared the shit out of her. She had watched the conversation progress from the window and could tell that Emily was getting worked up.

"You aren't going to throw something, are you?" Paige asked peeking around the barn door.

"I'm sorry," Emily whispered from inside. She opened the door a little wide and found Emily slumped against the wooden pen, head in her hands. She took a couple steps in and picked up the Emily's phone and battery. She quickly reassembled the phone before approaching Emily.

"Everything okay?" Paige asked, searching Emily's eyes for an answer.

"Yeah," Emily lied.

"Really?" Paige had gotten to know Emily, her gimmicks, antics, the way she couldn't make eye contact with you when she was lying. Paige knew that it had something to do with a phone call, or why else would Emily be throwing her phone across the room.

"Can we get out of here?" Emily said, suddenly feeling very trapped.

"Yeah, of course, how about we go take a ride?"

"Sounds like a great idea," Emily said grabbed her jacket.

Emily didn't speak a word to Paige as they saddled the horses and rode out to the meadow. They took a seat underneath the oak tree. Paige wrapped a blanket around the two of them and held Emily close to her.

She had a feeling about what was about the happen. She'd been mentally preparing herself for a while, but also that preparation seem to do her nothing when the real thing came along.

"I'm here when you want to talk," Paige whispered gently, as she place a kiss against Emily's temple.

"I'm afraid to say it because then everything becomes real…"

"…and I'll be right there with when it does."

Emily took a deep shaggy breathe before continuing. "They caught the person that's been threatening us…" Paige wanted to congratulate Emily, but she sensed that that wasn't all to the story.

"What it is Em?"

"When I was 14, I had my first kiss with a girl. That girl was Alison."

"The one that was murdered, right?"

"Apparently not…" Paige looked up with confusion. She clearly remembered Emily telling her that her friend Alison was murdered.

"What?"

"I don't know…I don't know how any of this is possible, but it scares me," Emily said wiping away a few stray tears.

"Hey..." Paige said, cupping Emily's face gently. "Everything's gonna be okay."

"How? A person I thought was dead, apparently isn't and has been the one threatening us."

"They've got her in custody. There's no way she can hurt you from behind bars. I won't let her touch you ever again."

"I don't want to go back," Emily sobbed, pulling Paige closer to her. "I don't want to leave you."

"I know...I know." Paige ran her fingers gently through Emily's locks, trying to comfort her. "When's the trial?"

"Within the month…"

Paige felt her heart sink. She thought she would have more time. "Well I've got a month to make you fall more in love with me."

"I'm always falling for you," Emily said nuzzling up to Paige. "There's not a day that goes where I wonder how I got so lucky."

"I love you Emily." They'd only be dating for a little under two months, but in the moment it felt right.

"I love you too," Emily whispered, capturing Paige's lips. "So much."

Things began heating up between the two of them. Paige tried to kiss any part of Emily she could find, while Emily fought with the buttons on Paige's shirt. Neither of them noticed the brewing storm above them until light droplets began to rain upon them.

Paige let out a laugh, before rolling off of Emily. "We should probably head back." Paige carefully began button her shirt when Emily wrapped her arms around her waist.

"Thank you…for everything."

"What you're going through can't be easy…and you're so strong," Paige said softly. "I'll do whatever it takes to keep you safe."

The ride back was a wet one, literally. They were soaked from head to toe when they rode back into the barn. Paige clutched a shivering Emily next to her as they ran to the house. They hurried up to the bathroom, and Paige quickly started the shower. Emily gathered a few of her things.

"What are you doing?" Paige asked.

"Oh…um…I was going," Emily said pointing her room, indicating that she would let Paige shower first.

"You don't have to you…"

"Paige…"

"I'm sorry. I-I, um-"

"I've never done this before…" Emily whispered.

"It's okay," Paige said taking Emily's hands in hers. "We'll take it one step at a time. However slow or fast."

"I'm sorry."

"Hey, it's not about me," Paige smiled. "It's about what you feel comfortable with. Okay?"

"Okay…"

"I'll shower downstairs." Emily nodded, and watched as Paige gathered her things before heading down the stairs.

Emily was mentally beating herself as she listened to Paige descend the stairs. Of course she would have loved to share a steamy shower with Paige, but with the recent news she was afraid to take that step…to emotionally connect herself with Paige.

The hot water warmed her shivering body, but she longed for Paige's strong arms to wrap around her. She shut off the water when her skin was graciously warmed. She heard Paige rustling about her room…wrapping a towel around herself she carefully opened Paige's door.

Paige glanced up from her desk, and felt her heart skip a beat. Her eyes roamed dangerously about Emily's half-covered body. She let out a hoarse 'hey' before making eye contact.

"Hi."

"Feeling better?"

"Much," Emily laughed. She admired Paige for a moment. Her hair was still damp, and it hung loosely over her sweatshirt.

"Paige…you know we need to talk."

"I know," Paige said getting up from her chair. "Let's no worry about it tonight. Tomorrow's a new day. We'll talk about it then."

"Okay." Emily wrapped her arms around Paige's neck.

"I'm so lucky to have you." Emily kissed Paige gently.


	19. Chapter 19

**Hello readers, fans, supports, etc...I know it's been a long time since I've been posting, I promise you that I will be updating on a weekly basis until this story is finished. Thank you for bearing with the insane time gaps. I love getting you read your comments and suggestions. Constructive criticism is always welcome.**

 **Side note...I apologize for spelling mistakes I tried to go through it quickly to get this chapter up for you guys.**

 **Love you all and can't wait to hear what you think of this chapter.**

 **Chapter 19**

The creaking of the stairs woke Emily from her sleep. She felt around for Paige but found no one. Rolling over, she found a cold empty spot next to her.

"Paige?"

"I'm here…" Paige whispered from the doorway.

"Have you been watching me sleep?" Emily asked, a smile appearing on her lips.

"Only for a little…you just looked peaceful…" Paige said, dipping her head in embarrassment.

"Where'd you go?"

"I was just making coffee," Paige said, holding up to cups.

"Spoiling me already?"

"I'd like to think of it as a gesture of good morning," Paige laughed. She leaned in for a kiss, but Emily quickly back away covering her mouth.

"I have morning breathe."

"I don't care," Paige said, removing Emily's hand and giving her a 'good morning' kiss. "Here." Paige handed over the large cup of steaming liquid.

"Thank you." Emily snuggled into Paige's opened arms. They lay there quietly drinking their coffee, each afraid to break to peaceful silence.

"Everything's going to be okay, you know that right?" Paige said, finally breaking the silence. Emily didn't respond.

"But what it's not Paige? I'm not ready to leave…I'm not ready to go back to the stares and whispers. Just as I was starting to feel at home…i-it's being ripped from my fingers."

"Look me," Paige said, cupping Emily's cheeks. "You are one of the strongest women I know. I know it's hard, feeling like this. But, sometimes life isn't meant to be easy. But the thing about you is you don't take 'no' for an answer. You fight for what's right. You fight for what you want. That's what makes you one hella of person."

"I'm not ready to leave you Paige."

"I know." Paige wrapped her arms around Emily and pulled her closer. She didn't want Emily to leave; she'd do anything to stop Emily from leaving. "I'll be with you every step of the way, no matter where you are."

"I'm afraid that when I leave…I'll never see you again." Paige let her head fall at the realization of Emily's words. Emily was right, depending on the way things went, there might be a chance that Paige wouldn't see Emily for a very long time.

"You can't rid of me that easily," Paige said, smiling weakly. "12 years was a long time, but the nine months that I've gotten to spend with you has been an eternity. I wouldn't give that up for anything. Getting to see you, happy, is all I want."

"Paige…" Emily choked, searching for words.

"You don't have to say anything."

"I need to." Emily wiped a few stray tears away. "I love you Paige…so much…more than you might think. There are so many things that I wished had happened. I wish I figured this all out earlier. I wish I could go back and change all of this…sometimes I wished that none of this would have happened."…."Some things happen for a reason…like how all of this brought us back together."

"I'd like to think that we'd find each other someday if this hadn't happened," Paige said running her hands through Emily's hair. "I want to show you something."

Emily watched as Paige got up and quickly crossed the room. The grabbed the box from under her bed before returned to her spot next to Emily.

"What's that?" Emily asked, staring at the box. Paige lifted the lid of the box and Emily glance at its contents. It was like Emily's box; it had pictures, medals, trinkets, rocks, notes, memories. Paige shuffled through the papers before she pulled one out and handed it to Emily.

Emily recognized the handwriting instantly. It was a sloppy version of her current handwriting. Emily opened the envelope and pulled out the aged piece of paper. Emily read her scribbled words that were pressed on the paper in blue crayon.

"You kept this…" Emily said, heart warmed. She glanced at the note that she had written Paige 12 years ago.

"Of course. I, uh, kept everything," Paige said, dipping her head embarrassingly.

A smile cracked on top Emily's lips. She leaned in and planted a gentle kiss on Paige. "Wait here." Emily disappeared into her room for a moment, before retuning with her box.

Paige looked at it curiously. When Emily opened it, Paige realized that Emily had kept similar things. Emily set the box down in front of Paige and allowed her to look at its content.

"Hey, is that…" Paige pointed at a rock near the corner.

"Yeah," Emily laughed, pulling the rock out of the box. It was painted white, with eyes, ears, and nose. "Your pet rock, Alfie." She handed the rock over to Paige.

"Wow…" Paige laughed, rolling the rock over in her hands. "I actually can't believe you still have this, of all things."

"It's special. I remember the day you gave this to me."

"The day you left."

"Yeah, you told me that he was your prized possession and that only a best friend could take care of him."

"I did," Paige laughed, remember the moment. "Well, I'm glad you took care of him."

"I don't know if sitting in a box counts as taking care of him."

Paige let out a light laugh before putting Alfie back in the box. "No matter how far, or how long we are apart…we always manage to keep a little bit of each other. I know that leaving here is gonna be hard, but we'll get through it. Together."

"I love you Paige…"

"I love you to Em."

Emily watched Paige from Paige's bedroom window. After their talk that morning, Emily was slightly less anxious. She knew that Paige would be with her every step of the way, no matter how hard things were. But most importantly, neither of them wanted to lose each other.

Getting things back on tract was surprisingly easy. They found themselves getting back into their regular routine: wake up, get breakfast, school, Emily would drive Paige's truck home and milk the cows while Paige was at practice, eat dinner, do homework, then spend the rest of their night snuggling or watching a movie. Only this time they found themselves sleeping less and less in their respected bed and more in one bed, usually Paige's. May was approaching fast, it was only a matter of time.

"Hey," Paige said coming into the room and tossing her swim bag in the corner.

"Hey! How was practice?"

"Oh the usual…anyways…I have a proposal."

"Okay…which is…?"

"Well I was thinking…since it's a long weekend…we could maybe escape Georgia for a bit?"

"Really?"

"Yeah! My grandparent's own a beach house in Florida, but they're in Europe for the week."

"They'd be fine with us staying there?"

"Yeah. I talked to them a while ago about it. And my mom thinks that it would be good for us to get out of here for a little while. Plus…I gathered that you've never been to Florida."

"Well, you'd be right about one thing," Emily laughed. "So, when do you leave?"

"Well…I kinda called us out 'sick' for tomorrow so that we could make it down there before rush hour starts."

"You lied to the school so that we could go and have fun," Emily said cocking her eyebrow.

"Yeah…" Paige said bowing her head shamefully.

"Such a badass," Emily joked pulling Paige in for a kiss. "It's kinda cute."

"Well I'm glad you like it," Paige laughed. "Now go…pack your bags!"

They were on the road before the sun was up. Paige had gotten up early to milk the cows and load of up the car. Emily crawled out of bed, threw of the first thing she saw, before dragging her pillow, blanket, and a cup of coffee into the car.

Paige watched as Emily slept quietly next to her. She had been trying to memorize every little detail of Emily, but there was so much to learn. Emily was an ever-changing person and that's what Paige loved about her.

They reached the Florida boarder a little after noon. Emily was fully awake and hungry. They pulled up at a rest stop and grabbed some food and gas. Emily offered to drive but Paige insisted that she was fine.

It was about 4 more hours until they pulled into a small gravel driveway. The house was just as Emily had imagined a small beach house to look to like. It was a cozy 2-story story house with 2 bedrooms, and a porch that backed right onto the beach.

"This is where you grandparents live?" Emily asked, amazed.

"Yeah, they retired here about ten years ago."

"This place is beautiful," Emily said, heading towards the porch. Paige watched from a distance as Emily explored the house like a little kid on Christmas.

Paige brought their things into the house and placed them in the guest room before joining Emily out on the beach.

"I can't believe that this house backs up right onto the beach," Emily said digging her toes into the sand.

"Yeah, it is pretty nice."

"Did you used to come here a lot when you were a kid?"

"Yeah. My parents took us down here every year until…" Emily glanced over a Paige who had become silent. Her attention focused on the sand.

"Until your accident?" Emily questioned. Paige's eye rose to meet her and nodded.

"You woulda thought that after all this time it would be easier to talk about it."

"Traumatic experiences leave a lasting impression. I don't think that we can every fully get rid of them," Emily offered with a smile. "How about I make us something to eat?"

"Yeah…" Paige nodded. "I'm just going to stay out here for a bit."

Emily watched Paige from the living room window. Paige moved slowly towards the water's edge, before kneeing. It was the first time that Emily had witness Paige in a peaceful mindset. She walked along the shallow water like a graceful swan. She stood there with her head tilted towards the sunset heavens as if she were saying a silent prayer of hope.

"Hey," Paige said, opening the screen door.

"Hey." Emily smiled. "Feeling better?"

"Yeah." Paige wrapped her arms around Emily. "Thank you."

"Anytime," Emily said placing a gentle kiss on Paige's lips.

Emily rested her head gently on Paige's chest and played with the hem of her shirt. The breeze rocked the hammock back and forth gently. She listened to the gentle sound of Paige's breathing. Paige's arm was wrapped lazily around Emily's shoulder.

Emily raveled in the moment. She knew that these moments were limited. She'd thought about a lot of things since they decided to take a 'spontaneous' vacation. Emily had thought about what Paige had said about taking it slow. Emily knew that Paige was holding back when things got to heated, but Emily could spot the frustration in Paige's eyes. She'd always been ready, but the thought of it scared her. The thought of reaching that emotional level with Paige and then suddenly having it ripped away from her…it terrified Emily.

She'd tried to convince herself that she wasn't ready, but every time she looked into those hazel eyes…she couldn't help but want Paige more and more. She glanced up at Paige…her eyes were closed, but she still felt it. She reached up and carefully brushed the stray hairs out of Paige's face. A smile appeared on Paige's lips as Emily tucked the strand behind Paige's ear.

"Hey," Paige said opening her eyes sleepily.

"Hey…" Emily felt Paige stretch beneath her before returning to her position.

"You okay?"

"Yeah." Emily smiled, and nestled closer to Paige.

"I was thinking we could grab dinner in town tonight. There's a restaurant on the pier that my grandparents used to take me to when I was little."

"I'd that."

They spent another hour laying before Paige got up to shower. There was only one shower in the house, and since Emily still wasn't sure…Paige took the first shower and then Emily. Emily thought about getting dressed up, but when she saw Paige in shorts and a shirt, she decided against it.

The place that Paige decided on was a small restaurant that opened onto the pier. It was lit up by a string of lights hanging from the roof. They had a quiet romantic dinner before taking a walk on the beach.

The ride back was quiet, but not uncomfortable. When they got back into the house, Emily sensed the mood change. There was desire in Paige's eyes, but also restraint. She wouldn't act unless Emily wanted it.

Emily took hold of Paige's hand and lead her upstairs towards the bedroom. Paige's lips were on Emily's before they even reached the room. Paige's hand reached blindly for the door knob while Emily pushed her up against the door. Paige found the knob and quickly it. Paige pushed Emily up against the closing doors. Emily wrapped her legs around Paige's waist.

"Are you sure?" Paige asked breathing heavily. "We don't have to if –" Emily cut her off with another kiss.

"I'm ready…I think I've been ready for a while now." A smile appeared on Paige lips.

Emily felt Paige's grip tight as she carried her towards the bed before gently falling on top of her. Paige took her time admiring Emily…slowly running her hands up Emily's shirt.

"I love you," Paige whispered into Emily's ear. She gently pulled at Emily's shirt searching for Emily's approval. Emily nodded and Paige took off Emily's shirt.

Paige knew that she had been staring at Emily for more than a few seconds, but Emily was beautiful. Emily smirked at Paige's gawking. She'd had sex before, with Ben, but this was first time that she felt truly appreciated. The way Paige's eye roamed her body, but her heart skip a beat.

Emily took a daring step and unclasped her bra...letting it fall gently to the ground. She watched as Paige's eye widen and darken with desire.

"See something you like?" Emily teased. Paige nodded silently, before pulling her own shirt over her head.

This time it was Emily's turn to gawk. She's seen Paige half-clothed plenty of times, but this time there was no sports bra to hide under.

"We can stop whenever you want," Paige whispered.

"I want you Paige." Paige smiled, and gently pushed Emily back down running kissing down Emily necks. Emily let out a moan as Paige sucked at her breasts. She trailed kisses down her stomach before stopping at the hem of Emily's shorts.

When Emily nodded for Paige to continue, she quickly undid the bottoms and discarded them. Emily felt Paige's breathe heat her center, causing her moan loudly.

"You're so beautiful," Paige whispered, capturing Emily's lips. Emily felt Paige's hand slip under to panties, and ran gently circles over her bundle of nerves. Paige felt Emily buck underneath her at her touch.

"I need you..." Emily moaned, and Paige gladly complied, slipping her fingers around Emily's panties before removing them.

Paige gave Emily one last look before kissing Emily's wet center. Emily felt her mind go into overdrive. Everything about the moment turned Emily on more and more. She couldn't believe that she'd waited this long. "More…"

Paige let out a soft laugh before capturing Emily's moaning lips. "Please." Emily pleaded once more. This time Paige complied and gently slipped her finger through Emily's wet folds. Emily felt her fingers dig into Paige's back. She kissed back vigorously as Paige pushed faster.

"Paige…I'm…" Emily breathed heavily.

"It's okay baby…I'm right here," Paige whispered into Emily's ear.

Emily felt every muscle in her body begin to shake. She felt Paige insert another finger, and everything seem to just go blank. "I'm right here." The ecstasy overcame her and she felt herself crying out Paige's name.

Paige felt Emily shaking body, and helped her ride out her orgasm. Heavy breathing filled the room.

"You okay?" Paige asked, stroking Emily's cheek.

"Yeah..." Emily breathing heavily. "That was…incredible."

Paige let out a laugh, before rolling off of Emily. Paige was surprised to see Emily rolling on top of her, taking charge of the situation.

"I've never experienced anything like that before," Emily whispered. "God…this is going to sound ridiculous."

"What?"

"It's just…you did so much for me, I feel shitty not being able to do the same. I don't even know anything about female anatomy."

"Em…it's okay," Paige chuckled softly.

"It's not," Emily said playfully slapping Paige. "I don't want to be that shitty girlfriend that please her woman."

"I want you Emily," Paige said pulling Emily's naked body towards her. Emily nodded, and did her best to mimicked the moves that Paige had used on her.

With Paige's guidance and love, Emily felt first confidence return, and soon she felt Paige trembling underneath her.

"Was I okay?" Emily asked, resting her head on Paige's chest.

"Better than okay…you were amazing," Paige said, kissing the top of Paige's head.

"Paige, seriously," Emily said raising her head.

"Come her," Paige said, pulling Emily on top of her. "You never fail to surprise me, and well…if you want more practice…we could…you know…give it another go…"

"Wow, horny much?" Emily smirked.

"Well…for you…I just can't seem to get enough," Paige said seductively.

"Just shut up and fuck me," Emily demanded.

Paige carefully slipped out of bed, threw on shorts and a sweatshirt before heading outside. The moonlight showered the rippling water. She smiled at the thoughts that occurred just a few hours ago. Emily had made her mind go into overdrive more than once…and every time had been breathtaking, but the reality was hitting her hard.

She pulled the ring out of her pocket and rolled it over and over in her fingers. She smiled at the memory of the ring.

"You okay?" Paige whipped around at stopped Emily coming towards her.

"Yeah, of course."

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah," Paige said motioning Emily to take a seat next to her. "I was thinking about something."

"About us?" Paige nodded. Emily noticed the ring in Paige's hand. She'd seen it before, it was the ring Paige always before on her right hand. It was a small gold band with a single gem encased in the ring. "I know that it's only been a few month since this all started, but it feels like an eternity. I know that things are changing, and it reminded me of something my grandpa told me." Emily gave Paige's hand a gently squeeze signaling her to continue. "My grandma and grandpa meet in college. He was studying to be a bank and she was studying to be a writer. They hit off immediately and dated for 5 years, moved to New York…my grandpa got a job working on Wall Street and my grandma wrote for a local magazine. My grandpa was at the height of his career when my grandma got a job offer working for a prestigious travel company that wanted her to go out to Los Angeles."

"Let me guess…your grandpa didn't want her leave." Paige nodded.

"But it was opportunity of a life time for her, so she left my grandpa, left New York…my grandpa was devastated…"

"So what happened?"

"They were both young when that happened. They went their separate ways, until about 5 years later when my grandpa picked up a travel magazine and read one of her articles. He got on a plane that day and travelled around the world trying her find her, picking up trinkets along the way. After half of year of chasing her around the world, he finally found her in Prague. I guess from there on its history." Paige let out a small laugh. "My grandpa told me the biggest mistake he'd made was letting my grandma slip through his fingers…I remember him turning to me and putting a finger over my heart." Paige mimicked the motion tap a finger to her chest. "He said 'Paige if find someone that makes you as happy and your grandma makes me…don't ever let them slip through your fingers…chase them around the world if you have to…but never give up without a fight' and I don't plan to."

"When was grandpa was in Amsterdam he picked up something." Paige held up the ring. "He promised my grandma that he'd chase her around the world again and again to win back her heart. Although 5 years is a lot of time to make up…but it's never too late right?"

"My grandma gave it to me when I come out and told me to promise her that I'd give this to the girl of that made me smile brighter than the sun, that made my heart skip a beat, and who stole a piece of my heart."

"Paige…"

Paige gently slipped the ring onto Emily's finger. "It's a promise Emily. A promise that I'm going to fight like hell for us. A promise that I will travel around the world to find you. A promise that I love you and always will. I'm not giving up without a fight and I hope you won't either."

"Never," Emily said, wiping away a stray tear. "I love you so much."


	20. Chapter 20

**Chapter 20**

Emily ran gently her fingers gently around Paige's bare back, tracing the scratches from the night before. It turned her on slightly, seeing her marks embedded on Paige. She couldn't stop smiling at Paige's sleeping figure.

"Are you just going to stare or kiss me good morning," Paige whispered, eyes still closed.

Emily let out a laugh before placing a trail of kissing down Paige's back. "Good morning…now I'm going to go back to my staring."

"You're funny," Paige said, rolling over to face Emily. "Hey."

"Hi." Emily smiled.

They lay there quietly with Paige curled up to Emily. "Paige…"

"Hhmmm."

Emily reached her hand up to Paige's eyebrow and ran a gentle finger on it. "How'd you get this?"

"Oh, that," Paige laughed, looking up at her eyebrow. "I ran into swing set at school."

"A swing set?" Emily asked in disbelief.

"Yeah," Paige laughed again. "We were playing Frisbee, and I guess I didn't see the swing set, but hey, 12 stitches later and I'm still here."

"Who knew you were so clumsy," Emily joked.

"Hey that's not even the worse," Paige chuckled. "This one." Paige pointed to the scar just below her hair line. "…I got running into a stop sign."

"Jesus…"

"Hey in my defense…It was hidden behind a tree and I was distracted."

"Huh, sure…"

"What don't tell me you don't have embarrassing stories like that?"

"I was a well-focused child when I was little. I didn't have time to be clumsy," Emily said, trying to keep a straight face.

"I distinctly remember that time you fell out of tree…" Paige said, recalling the memory. "You were…" Paige tapped her chin trying to remember. "…trying to catch a butterfly." Paige broke into laughter when she saw Emily's face.

"I hate you," Emily said, smacking Paige.

"I love me," Paige cooed.

"Yeah, Yeah…" Emily said playing pushing Paige away from her. "How about a quick shower and then some breakfast? I'm starving."

"Emily Fields…is that an invitation?" Paige asked with a quirk of the eyebrow.

"Well, are you coming or not," Emily asked, sauntering over to the bathroom. Paige didn't waste another moment before hurrying after Emily.

They found themselves losing track of time, and their quick shower soon turned into an hour.

"You know, we're never going to make it back at this rate," Emily said brushing water out of her face.

"Well if we get breakfast on the road, we still have another 10 minutes…" Paige smirked.

"You're unbelievable sometimes," Emily laughed.

They were packed and on the road within the hour. They grabbed their meals on the road and booked it back to Georgia. They pulled up in front of the McCullers's farmhouse as the sun was setting.

"So how was the trip?" Christine asked, greeting them as they enter.

"It was amazing. Your parents have a wonderful beach house."

"What did you girls do?"

"Just enjoyed the nice weather," Paige said quickly.

"Oh sure," Christine smirked, knowing the girls too well. "As long as you're being safe."

"MOM!" Paige said embarrassingly. Emily laughed quietly, although her cheeks were red hot.

"Anyways, you both have mail, motioning to pile of letters."

Christine handed the letter over to Paige and waited for her to open it. Paige glanced at the right hand corner and recognized the red lettering She quickly ripped open the envelope and began reading the letter.

"Congratulations, welcome to the class of 2016. We are pleased to offer you a spot on the Stanford Varsity Swim Team. Pre-season training will commence at the end of July…" Paige let out a whale of excitement. She couldn't contain her happiness.

"Oh, I'm so proud of you!" Christine said, pulling Paige into a tight hug.

"Oh, wow, I can't believe this," Paige exclaimed. She took a second glance at the letter, reading it over again.

"I'll let you two to celebrate. Dinner will be ready in twenty."

"You did it," Emily smiled.

"I did," Paige sighed, still in shock. "I'm going to California."

"I heard it's beautiful out there," Emily said, pulling Paige into her warm hug.

"Promise that when this all blows over you'll come out and see me."

"I promise."

Emily glanced at the letter in her hands. She already knew what it was…her summons. Christine must have already known, but she didn't say anything. Emily watched Paige and her mother celebrate Paige's acceptance. She wasn't even aware that she was crying, until she felt a tear stream down her cheek.

Paige was too focused her acceptance that she didn't even notice Emily slip out the front down.

"We'll book you a ticket first thing tomorrow," Christine said happily.

"Thanks mom."

"So…I noticed my mother's ring is on a certain someone…"

"Mom…not again."

"It's a mother's curiosity to ask."

"She's makes me really happy."

"If you're happy, then I'm happy, but you might want to go after your girl." Paige looked her mother confused. "She slipped out the front door a few minutes ago."

"What?"

"Paige, the summons came in while you were away."

"Shit…" Paige said, scrambling to her feet. "Thanks mom."

"Anytime sweetie…now go."

Paige had a good idea where Emily wondered off to. She found Emily sitting on the horse pen with Alfie's head resting gently in her lap.

"Thought I might find you out here," Paige said, joining Emily.

"You're supposed to be celebrating with her mother, not out here with me."

"Well, you happen to be my girlfriend, who I care about." Paige took Emily's hand and gently stroked it. "I know you got the letter."

Emily thought to question how Paige knew, but knew Christine told her. "So…when do you leave?" Paige asked. Emily pulled the letter from her back pocket and handed it to Paige. Emily watched as Paige read through the summons.

"May 8th…"

"I know."

"It said they booked a flight for the 6th." Today was the 4th. "That's two day from now."

"I know…I didn't think it would happen this fast. I'm so sorry Paige."

"It's okay," Paige said, giving Emily a weak smile.

As much a Paige was hurting, she knew that Emily was hurting just as much, if not more. "Come here," Paige said opening her arms. Emily gladly fell into them. "I love you."

"I love you too."

"How about we grab some ice cream and put on a movie? We've still got a few hours left of this vacation."

"Okay," Emily smiled.

They spent the rest of the night wrapped up in each other, eating ice cream, and watching comedies.

Monday came too soon for the both of them. They were both awoken by the sound of their alarms.

"Hey, it's time to get up," Paige said, gently shaking Emily awake.

"Can't we just stay in bed?" Emily groan.

"I wish we could…come on I'll make the coffee," Paige said giving Emily a chaste kiss before heading downstairs.

Emily rolled out of bed and rummaged through Paige's drawer trying to find something to wear. When she got down stairs she found and her mother in the kitchen.

"You ready."

"Course," Paige smiled, handing Emily a cup of coffee.

It was hard for Emily to focus in school that day, after all why should she. She would be leaving anyways. At Union if seniors got As in their classes, they were exempt from the final. Emily would graduate from Union without a problem.

With every hour ticking by, Emily heart ached just a little more. Paige had skipped practice that day so that they could spend the rest of the day together.

They visited the place where they shared their first kiss. They took a horse back ride to the meadow, where they spent most of the afternoon. They didn't talk about the fact that Emily was leaving. They didn't talk about the trial. They talked like they before all of this happened, they joked, laughed, teased, but with a few added kisses.

That evening, they cooked dinner together, and had one last family dinner full of stories and laughs. They spent the evening packing up Emily's room. Paige managed to steal of few of her favorites from Emily's collection and Emily did the same from Paige's.

They spent the night making love, not caring if Paige's parents heard, not caring if the world heard.

Emily felt Paige's strong arms around her waist. The warm of Paige's breath breezed the back of her neck. She slowly rolled over to face Paige, who was still fast asleep. She brushed a few strands of hair out of her girlfriend's hair, before placing a gentle kiss on her lips.

Emily lay there quietly examining Paige in all her beauty. Her heart sank when she heard her alarm go off in the distance. The alarm woke Paige from her sleep.

"Is it morning already?" Paige mumbled, scooting closer to Emily.

"Yeah," Emily replied, kissing the top of Paige's head. "I'm afraid so."

"Can we just stay here for a few more minutes?"

"Of course." Emily ran her fingers through Paige's messy hair. She was definitely going to miss having Paige right next to her. Everything about Paige made her feel safe. It was like a safe haven only meant for her.

"I have something for you," Emily said placing a gently kiss to Paige's temple.

"Em, you didn't have to get me anything."

"You gave me something so precious," Emily said playing with the ring. "There's something that's special to me that I want you to have." Paige nodded.

Emily unclasped the necklace around her neck and placed it gently in Paige's hand. It was a gold chain with a golden feather pendant. "My dad gave it to me for my 16th birthday. It was last give he ever gave me. He was always telling me to follow my heart. If something made me happy my should pursue it with everything I have. It's a reminder."

"Emily I can't take this…it means to much to you."

"You made a promise to me. This is my promise to you. Paige…you make so the happiest person in the world, I want you to know that. Not matter what happens, I want to remember what these last 9 months have meant to me. I promise to that no matter what happens I'll see you again. You'll always have a piece of my heart."

They spent another hour lying in bed before getting up. Paige made Emily a late breakfast, before she helped Emily pack the rest of her things. Paige glanced around the newly empty room. She was so used to seeing Emily's belonging all over, and now it was undecorated and cold. She took a seat next to Emily on the bed and wrapped her arms around Emily.

"This isn't the end, okay?" Paige said, trying to reassure Emily.

"Okay."

Paige realized what she was getting herself into the moment she kissed Emily. She knew that there was a possibility that she wouldn't see Emily for a very long time, and she also accepted the possibility their relationship would be very short lived. There was one thing that was certain of, that she would always love Emily no matter what, and that she would always be there for her.

"Promise you'll stay in touch?"

"I promise." Emily leaned and gave pass a passionate kiss.

"Girls! Are you almost ready?" Christine called from the foot of the stairs.

"Yeah, we'll be down in a minute," Emily called back.

The mood in the room changed quickly. Emily glanced around the room. Tomorrow she would be waking up in her old room, tomorrow she wouldn't have Paige next to her, and tomorrow everything would change.

"You ready?" Paige asked, holding out a hand. Emily grabbed Paige's hand tightly, and gave the room one more glance.

"I don't think I'll never be ready," Emily whispered.

Paige never let go of Emily's hand. She gently thumbed the top of Emily's hand. She was going to miss Emily more than anything. She didn't know how to describe what she and Emily had. It was different that anything she'd ever experienced. It was like they were two pieces meant for each other, and when they came together…everything just felt, right.

Christine helped them carry Emily's bags into the terminal and said her goodbyes before giving the girls from alone time. Emily's first instinct was to pull Paige into a hug, but it ended with a kiss.

"Here," Paige said pulling something out of her pocket. Emily recognized the goggle-eyed creature immediately.

"Alfie!"

"I was wondering if you could take care of him for a while," Paige smiled.

"Of course I will," Emily said hugging Alfie to her chest. "I'll make sure he's not in a box."

"I'd appreciate that," Paige laughed. There was a moment of silence before Paige spoke again. "You got everything you need?" Emily nodded, and Paige noticed the tears forming in Emily's eyes. "Hey…everything's gonna be okay. No matter what happens, I'll always be here for you."

"I love you." Emily said, cracking a smile. "I don't know what I'm going to do without you."

"I love you too. Just, stay out of trouble okay?"

"I will…" Emily took another breathe before continuing. "Paige if I don't see you again…I just wanted to let you know how much you've done for me."

"I know," Paige said cupping Emily's face. "But I made a promise to fight like hell. So that's what I'm going to do. This isn't goodbye. I promise."

"See you soon," Emily said, kissing Paige for the last time. Emily felt Paige's lips leave her. Paige backed away from her with a soft smile. Emily could see the sadness in her eyes, but Paige tried to hide it.

She gave Emily a soft smile. "I'll see you soon Em." She watched as Emily made her way through security.

When she lost sight of Emily, she felt as if a hammer had smashed her heart into pieces. The only thing that she could do was wait and hope that Emily would come back.

Emily fought the urge to cry once she left the safety of Paige's arms. She passed through security and made it to the gate just as they started boarding.

"Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to Philadelphia International Airport where the local time is 6:26 pm. We will be arriving at the terminal shortly. Thanking for flying with us and we hope to see you on another one of our flights."

Emily leaned over to get a better look out the window. Seeing Philly for the first time in months felt weird to Emily. She'd spent the last nine months in a small farm town. There were more people in the airport than the population of Suches and Blairsville combined. It took her a few minutes to orient herself back into society.

When Emily reached the baggage claim, she caught sight of the detective that had escorted her to the airport the first time.

"Emily it's good to see you," she said, holding out a hand. "How was the flight?"

"Fine," Emily responded, completely ignoring the detective's hand.

"How does it feel to be back in Pennsylvania?"

"I don't know. I haven't decided yet." Emily turned her back towards to the detective and forced herself to stare at the baggage carousel. The detective sensed the anger projecting from Emily and thought better than asking Emily any further questions.

Emily played with the ring Paige has given her on the ride home. She only asked the detective two questions: was she allowed to leave the house to see her friends and what time she need to be in court the next day. The detective told her that, yes, she was allowed to leave her house but she had to let either to inform the detective of her whereabouts at all times and a squad car would take her to wherever she needed to go. Then Emily posed the question if she was allowed to have her phone. The detective told her that she would continue to use the secured phone that was given to her until further notice.

When they pulled up in front of Emily's house, Emily quickly unrolled her oversized flannel over her hands to cover it. Emily's hands were slightly swollen from flying and the ring wouldn't come off. Before Emily had a chance to even get out of the car, her mother was swooping her up into a big hug.

"Oh Emmy, I missed you so much!" She exclaimed. "Oh, how are you? How the flight? How was the family you were staying with?"

"Mom, I promise I'll answer your questions, but can I go over to see my friends. I haven't seen or talked to them in months."

"Okay," Pam sighed. "Just be home by midnight."

"I will. I love you," she said, kissing her mother on the cheek before running back inside.

Emily told the detective that she was heading over to Spencer's house with the police squad car.. Spencer had told her to come over as soon as she got back, and they would have dinner before the others got back later that night.

She knocked twice on the barn door before it slid open. The smell of pizza filled the room and a pair of strong arms wrapped around her.

"Emily, it's so good to see you."

"It's good to see you too Spence."

"You got here just in time for pizza," Spencer said, opening the box. "So, how are you?"

"I'm okay…" Emily said trying to hide her anger.

"Yeah, me neither. I'm just happy to see you. You look great."

"Thanks," Emily laughed. "I guess all that farming really paid off."

"So how is everything, with you know…"

"Things are good," Emily said, smiling. Paige was on her mind, causing her to smile.

"When all this blows over, I'd really love to meet her."

"You know you remind me of her. She's stubborn as hell…" Emily rolled the ring around her finger for a few moments. "I haven't told others."

"I won't say anything. You can tell them when you're ready. They'll be fine, well Aria will be, I don't know about Hanna. She'll probably poke and jab you until you give her a name." Emily let out a soft laugh.

"Her name's Paige." Emily smiled brightly. Even saying Paige's name got her antsy.

"Well, whoever this Paige is, I'm sure she's amazing because you can't stop smiling."

"I can't describe it. Everything about her is just…indescribable." Spencer noticed the gold ring on Emily's finger, when her rolled up her sleeves.

"I'm really happy for you," Spencer smiled and wrapped an arm around Emily.

"So am I."

They finished catching up over pizza, when Hanna and Aria arrived. They spent a few more hours catching up. Emily didn't bring up the fact that she was in a relationship, and Spencer didn't say anything to the others. Emily wanted to tell them on her own terms, meaning individual. She allows found that it was easier to tell someone something if it was one on one.

"So we all have to testify tomorrow…what kind of questions are they gonna ask?" Hanna inquired.

"They most likely will want to know what happened, the texts, incidents," Spencer commented.

"What are we supposed to tell them?"

"The truth. I'm done lying. There's nothing Cece can do to hurt us."

"Yes there is, Spence. What happen if they let her off?"

"I don't think they will. My mom said that the evidence is strong, and that the prosecution has a strong case. All we have to do is answer the questions fully and honestly."

"I hate being back here," Aria commented. "I was just starting to get used to a house full of boys. It feels weird to be back."

"Speak for yourself. I was in the freaking Mideast where people thinks it's okay to match plaids with strips."

"Oh no we can't have that can we," Emily joked.

"Well at least you guys have nice fashion tastes, which reminds me…Emily I really like that shirt, where'd you get it?"

Emily glanced down at her shirt and realized that it was one of Paige's shirts. It was her favorite one, but when they were getting dressed this morning, Paige told her to wear it, and Emily hadn't thought twice about it.

"Oh, uh, I got it for a store near the place I lived," Emily lied.

"You'll have to let me borrow it sometime." _Not a chance_ thought Emily. "Well I should get going. I promised that detective I'd be home before midnight.

"Same." Aria and Emily said in unison.

Emily said goodbye to the rest of them, before heading home. She called the detective informing her that she had made it home. Her mother was already asleep when she got home. She quietly made her way upstairs. Her suitcases were placed in the corner of her room. She thought about unpacking them, but unpacking them meant that she wasn't going to back to Georgia. She didn't want to face that fact yet.

She scrounged for a pair of shorts before getting ready. She wished Paige was next to her. Her bed felt cold without anyone next to her. Emily crawled out of bed and searched her bag until she found Alfie. She knew it sounded stupid, but it was closet thing to Paige.

She curled up with Alfie, turning him over in her fingers. It wasn't until she noticed a small inscription on the back of the rock.

 _I love you – Paige_


	21. Chapter 21

**Hey guys I know I'm a day late. The past few days have been so busy I haven't had time to sit down and write. Anyways I hope you like this chapter. I thought about going more in depth with the trial, but I wanted to focus more on Paige and Emily. Hope you will enjoy this chapter.**

 **Chapter 21**

Emily took a seat next to Spencer outside. They weren't allowed to discuss their testimonies with other another. They had an officer with them at all times, once the trial was in session. None of them knew how long the trial would be, all they knew was that they weren't allowed to leave until the case has been closed.

Emily watched one by one as her friends were called up to the stand over and over again. She found herself answering the most random question. She answered questions about Ben, her father, her relationship with Alison, even her own personal life. She answered the truth to every question.

"Ms. Fields, did you or did you not have a relationship with Ben?"

"I did."

"And did he or did he not, for lack of a better word, cheat on you?"

"I don't see how this is relevant to the case," Emily protested.

"Ms. Fields, please answer the question."

"Yes, he did."

"Who was this person that your friend boyfriend cheated with?"

Emily felt herself getting worked up. Her and Ben had remained close friends after their break-up. The whole cheating thing, although Emily didn't like it, gave her a reason to break-up with Ben. It gave her a way out.

"Alison DiLaurentis."

"Your friend Alison DiLaurentis."

"Yes."

"How did that make you feel? Angry? Upset?"

"I was mad," Emily answered honestly.

"Mad enough to hurt Alison?"

"What? No! I would never hurt her," Emily argued realizing what the defense was trying to do. "I wasn't even in PA the night she went missing or the night she turned up dead."

The defense lawyer nodded her head, before pacing around the court. Emily felt her nerves starting to grow. She wasn't sure what was going on, and these questions didn't seem pertinent to the case. She glanced at Spencer who had the same puzzled look on her face. None of the other girls had been asked questions about their personal lives, why Emily? Did they know something about her that they were trying to fish for? Or where they just trying to throw her off her game?"

"No further questions your honor," the defense lawyer said, before returning to her seat.

"You may step down, Ms. Fields," the judge commanded.

Emily hurried off the stand and out of the courtroom. She took the few seconds she had alone to let all her nerves and frustration out. Her guard found her a few moments later and escorted her back into the courtroom where she stayed for the rest of the day.

The following days were the same. She'd get up, answer questions, get down, and sit for the rest of the day. The trial lasted two weeks. In those two weeks, Emily felt as if she was being ripped apart emotional and physical. Each side was ripping her apart, trying to find a weak link. When she wasn't being ripped in two, she was back at Rosewood High with others. Even though she didn't need to be in the school, the police thought it would be best for the girls to return to normalcy. All eyes were on the four of them. It wasn't the same school she left nine months ago. She'd hear people whisper about her behind her back; even her own teammates wouldn't talk to her. The only person who was there for her was Ben. He stood up for her when he saw her getting pushed around. Even though he knew that their relationship was over, he would never stop caring about her, after all they were 'best' friends.

By the end of the first week, all she wanted to do was to go back to Georgia. She wanted to contact Paige, but she couldn't. She wasn't allowed to until the trial was over. She barely talked to anyone, even her own mother started to wonder what was up.

Emily heard a knock at her door one Saturday night. "I'm really not in the mood mom." There was silence on the other side of the door.

"Em, it's me Aria."

Emily's ears perked up at the sound of Aria's voice. She quickly got off her bed and unlocked the door. "Sorry. I thought you were my mom."

"It's okay," Aria said, coming into the room. She spotted Emily's suitcases in the corner and noticed that all but one was still packed. "Actually your mom called me."

"She did?"

"Yeah," Aria said, taking a seat on Emily's bed. "I think she called Hanna and Spencer too, but they couldn't make it. She's worried about you, Em. She says you aren't eating and you barely talk to anyone."

Emily looked down guiltily. She spent most of her time in school or in the courtroom and whatever time she had left she spent in bed. "It's just hard."

"I know. We were forced out of here and now were forced back just as things were beginning to find normalcy."

"Normalcy doesn't even begin to describe it. I was starting over with my life. I've made mistakes, and for once in my life I was happy. But now I'm back here and I'm beginning to see everything that made me happy slip away," Emily sighed. "I can't even unpack my bags for Christ's sake."

"Hey, it's gonna be okay," Aria said, resting a hand on Emily's knee. "We'll get your things back, and we'll work through this together."

"It's not a thing, or an idea…it's person," Emily said, reaching for the ring. "I've been lying to you Aria and myself, for years."

"I don't understand."

"Aria…" Emily took a deep breath before continuing. "I'm gay."

"You are?" Aria repeated, slightly shocked. "Why didn't you tell me?"

"I don't know. I just…I wasn't comfortable with myself back then. And then all this happened, and for once in my life I was happy." A smile appeared on Aria's face. "I met this amazing girl, and she turned my world upside down."

"Not many people can do that," Aria said with a smile. "Do the others know?"

"Only you and Spencer. I was planning on telling Hanna sometime this week."

"What about your mom?"

"No, she doesn't know."

"Is this why you've been so recluse?"

"Not entirely," Emily said, playing with the food on the plate Aria had brought her. "For once in my life I felt free and happy, and now I'm back here. I feel like I'm being molded back into something that I used to be. I'm tired of fighting. I just want to myself. I don't my every moved to be judged. I want to be able to walk down the street without having people stare at me. I just wanted my normalcy back. I guess I'm starting to realize that that might never happen."

"Don't say that Em. You of all people, you're the strong one I know. I've never seen you give up without a fight. You fight Em, because you know what you want. So you fight for it. Sometimes you lose, but you fought that's the point. Don't let people's views change who you are, who want to be. They don't matter. You're still the same Emily I love. I couldn't care less that your gay, I just can't watch you tear yourself apart like this."

"I miss her," Emily said, trying to hold back her tears.

"Come here," Aria said, letting Emily fall into her arms.

Hanna was the last person on her list. She thought about how she would tell her without her completely going off. Hanna was the type of person to ask all the nosey and extremely personal questions. She was also the type of person to stick her nose in places where it didn't belong.

Unfortunately, Hanna brought it up before Emily could. They were all over at Spencer's having dinner when Hanna spotted the ring hanging from Emily's necklace.

"So Em," Hanna said, setting down her fork. "Who's the ring from?"

Emily almost choked on the piece of food she was eating. She quickly glanced at Spencer and Aria for guidance.

"You might as well tell her Em," Spencer replied.

"Tell me what?" Hanna asked confused.

"Uh," Emily murmured. "I, uh, I'm dating someone."

"What? And you didn't tell? Wait do you two already know?" Spencer and Aria nodded their heads, and Hanna looked like she was about to blow up. "Why am I always the last person to get the memo?"

"Because sometimes you overreact…" Aria commented.

"Overreact!"

"Yes, like you are right now," Spencer noted.

"Well, I'd like to know if one of my friends were in a relationship," Hanna said, turning her gaze towards Emily. "So…who is he? Do we know him?"

"Uh…" was all the Emily could think of. She hadn't prepared for this. She glanced at Spencer, who smiled back giving her a nodded. "Uh, no, it's, uh, uh…" Emily felt her cheeks growing red as Hanna stared her down. "It's a h-her?"

"A what?" Hanna asked, as if she hadn't heard Emily clearly.

"I'm, uh, dating a girl…"

"Wait, so you're gay?" Hanna asked bewildered. Emily nodded shyly. "Why didn't you say so?"

"I was going to…I just," Emily said, trying to find her words. "It's just hard to admit something to people who you've lied to for so many years."

"Okay. So what's she like? Is she pretty? Wait don't tell me you that you've to already slept together…wait I want juicy details…" Hanna started firing off questions, just as Emily had predicted. She tried to answer as many as she could without giving too much away. She wanted to keep some of Paige for herself.

As much as the weight was beginning to lift from her shoulders, there was still a heavy weight from her mother bearing down upon her. She hadn't gotten the courage to bring anything up for her mother. They'd talked about her time while she was away, but that was it. Emily didn't mention whom she stayed with. She thought about telling her mother that she was staying with the McCullers because it might have helped her chances of going back after the trial, but in the end she didn't, because of Paige. If Pam found out the real reason Emily wanted to go back, Emily would never see Paige again.

"Has the jury reached a verdict?"

"We have your honor," the Forman said.

"For the 1st count. Murder in the second degree, what does the jury find?"

"We find the defendant guilty."

"For the 2nd count, blackmail and reckless endangerment, what does the jury find?"

"We find the defendant guilty."

"Guilty on all charges. Bailiffs please take Ms. Drake into custody, while she awaits sentencing," the judge boomed, before slamming her down her gavel.

"So it's over?" Hanna asked in disbelief.

"It's over," Spencer repeated. "I hope to god that it's her." Spencer's eyes were latched onto Cece's as they dragged her away.

"So what happens now?" Aria asked.

"I don't know…"

Emily knew exactly what she wanted to do. She wanted to go back to Georgia to be with Paige. As much as Rosewood was her home, Georgia was the place that made her happy. She'd talk to the detective about going back. She was allowed to return with permission from the McCullers and her mother.

"Hey, Em," Spencer said, catching up with Emily.

"Yeah, what's up?"

"You're going back, aren't you?"

"I'm gonna try…" Emily sighed. "This place…it…it's not the same. I don't know if I can stay here without losing my mind."

"Well, if you need any help. Let me know."

"I will," Emily said, pulling Spencer into a hug. "Thank you."

The moment Emily got home she pulled out a piece of paper and began writing a letter to Paige telling her that the trial was over and that she was coming back soon. She dropped it off at the post office just in time for the last pick-up of the day. She didn't have Paige's number, nor was she allowed access to a real phone until everything was closed.

She spent the rest of the night with the girls and their families celebrating. For the first time in four years they were able to live their lives without fearing for them. They laughed, cried, shared stories, but in the back of Emily's mind she was thinking about the letter that she had sent and hoped that she would get a response soon.

"Paige, I need to you make the guest room. Your grandparents are going to here soon!" Christine said as Paige walked into the house.

"Guest room?"

"Oh, the room Emily stayed in," Christine responded.

"Emily's room…" Paige whispered somberly. Christine looked from her cooking and noticed the sadness on Paige's face. Paige hadn't heard a peep from Emily since she left. She thought she'd at least hear something from Emily.

"Paige," Christine whispered, placing a hand on her daughter's shoulder. "Do you want to talk about it?"

"I miss her mom."

"I know.." Christine pulled Paige into a warm hug.

Paige made her way upstairs to what used to be Emily's room. She could still smell the lotion that Emily used every night before she went to bed. She glanced around the empty room, the light blue walls suddenly feeling cold and unwelcoming. She missed the way that she could sneak peaks at Emily from the bathroom, or the way that Emily would dance when she thought no one was look, even seeing Emily doing homework was somehow fascinating.

She took a seat on the unmade bed and let her mind wandered. Her mind flashbacked to the moments she shared with Emily. The moment when she saw Emily for the first time in 12 years, the moment when she and Emily milked the cows, rode the horses, even the moment of her and Shana breaking up.

"Paige, there's a letter for you," Christine said, coming into the room smiling.

Paige glanced at the letter and recognized Emily's handwriting. She quickly grabbed the letter and ripped it open.

 _Paige,_

 _Please forgive me for my rambling; letters are not my strong suit. Where do I even start this letter? You have no idea how much I miss you right now. You're all that I can think about. I spent most nights sleeping with Alfie…so trust me he's being very well taken care of._

 _The case was officially closed today. Cece Drake is going to prison for life, and hopefully some normalcy will be restored. I'm not allowed to have a phone for a little while, and I just realized that I don't even have your number. Paige, would you kindly give your girlfriend your number so that she can call you everyday and tell you how much she misses you._

 _I talked to the detective about coming back to Georgia since the trial was over, but as you can see that hasn't happened, yet…They told me that I need permission from both parties. I hoped that your family would be okay with me coming back. I still have yet to talk to my mother about everything._

 _I know you told me to be strong, but I feel so weak. I'm afraid to tell her, because I'm afraid to lose you. She's not like your parents. She was raised to be a good Catholic with catholic beliefs. She's going to crucify me. What do I do Paige?_

 _I hope this letter finds you in times. Please tell your family hello. I hope all is well, and I promise I'll see you soon._

 _I Love You,_

 _Emily_


	22. Chapter 22

**Chapter 22**

"Mom, can we talk?" Emily asked. Her nerves were building up ever since she'd gotten up the courage to talk to her mom about going back to Georgia.

"Of course honey. What's up?"

Emily took a few deep breaths, before looking her mother in the eyes. "I want to go back."

"Go back where?"

"To the place that they sent me."

"Why on earth would you want to do that? I would have thought you would've wanted to stay in Rosewood."

"I can't stay here, mom. This place, it's like a nightmare."

"Well, we can get you help. We can work through this together."

"I don't want help mom. I want to leave. I was actually happy where I lived."

"Are you saying that your weren't happy here? What about the girls? Ben?" Pam asked confused, trying to figure out why her daughter wanted to suddenly leave.

"No I was, it's just that, being away from here, after everything that's happen, it was nice. It to a relief to know that no one was hunting me, and no one even knew about my past." Emily reached for her mother's hands, but Pam pulled away at the last second. "I love you mom, and the girls, and Ben, but I don't want to stay here." Emily took a deep breathe before continuing. "I talked to the detective and the family, and they said that they would be happy to let me come back, but I need your permission."

"Emily…I can't, I just got you back," Pam said, standing up.

Emily knew she'd been defeated. Pam wouldn't let her leave. She rose from the couch and began to leave.

"Wait," Pam called. "I want to you be happy. I really do, but this is all just too much for me right now."

"I know."

"Where would you even be going?"

"Georgia," Emily replied. She waited for Pam to react, but she didn't. Maybe she didn't know that the McCullers live in Georgia or she knew exactly who Emily was talking about. When Pam didn't respond, she took it as her queue to leave. Pam didn't call her back and Emily didn't hear Pam say another word to her for the rest of the night.

Emily's alarm clock went off the next morning, and she hauled herself out of bed. She was ready to go by the time Spencer pulled up at her house.

"So did you tell your mom?"

"I told her I wanted to leave."

"What'd she say?"

"I don't know. She didn't give me a straight answer."

"Maybe she just needs time to process."

"Maybe."

Emily spent the rest of the day being stared at, and whispered about. She never thought she'd get a break. She felt as if she every move was being judged. When the final bell rang, she quickly gathered her things and headed to the pool to take her mind off things. Spencer joined her was a casual swim, before heading home.

Pam was in the kitchen when Emily got home. They only exchanged a few words, and Pam didn't bring up her answer to Emily's proposal. Emily thought about what Spencer had said, 'Maybe she just needs time.' The question was how much time did she need. There was still about two months left in the school year, and Emily wasn't sure if she was going to make it through the next week.

Emily spent the next week listening to whispers, rumors, and endured the glares, stares, and pointing. She hated that everyone here knew everything about her. Here, she was trying to be a closed book, but people just kept ripping her open. She wanted to go back to the solitude that was Georgia. The only thing that was getting her through this was the hope that Paige would receive her letter and write back. She checked the mail every day in hopes she was would see Paige's handwriting, but days went by and there was still nothing.

She spent two weeks opening and closing the mailbox in dismay. It wasn't until late one night that she found out why. Spencer had dropped her off after dinner with the girls. Emily in high-spirits soon found her mother sitting on her bed, holding a letter. Emily recognized Paige's handwriting instantly.

"Paige McCullers," Pam whispered. "That's who you were staying with."

"Have long have you had that?" Emily hissed, trying to snatch the letter from her mother's grip, but she wasn't quick enough. "Give me the letter. You have no right to read personal letters."

"I have every right. I'm your mother," Pam said, her angry growing steadily.

"It's just a letter mom!"

"Oh they seem to be a hell of a lot more than just a letter," Pam hissed. Emily only ever heard her mother swear when she was extremely angry. Emily could feel her hesitation growing. She didn't respond; and dipped her head under her mother's glare. "I sure hope these aren't what they look like." Emily didn't respond. All she wanted to do was cry. She'd tried to keep this from her mother for so long. "I raised you to be a good woman. Not this."

"Mom…" Emily pleaded.

"I don't understand. What did I do wrong?"

"Mom, you didn't do anything wrong," Emily said, reaching for her mother's hand. "You've always been there for me, supported me at my meets, you did everything right."

"Then tell me why I'm finding love letters from some other girl! This isn't who I raised you to be!"

"Mom, this is who I am," Emily pleaded weakly. "I'm still the same little girl who loved making cookies and decorating house."

"No," Pam said sadly. "You're not. I don't know who you are anymore."

"Mom…" Emily felt her voice crack and the tears began to flow.

"Give me your phone, laptop, and car keys."

"Mom! You can't be serious," Emily said, half crying, half shouting. "For once in your life, can't you see that I'm happy?"

"Emily! Don't make me ask you again?" Pam said raising her voice. Emily pulled out her key and phone, and handed them over to her mother. "You will not be going back Georgia. You will not talk to, write to, or see Paige. You will be staying here to finish the rest of your schooling."

"Mom, don't do this!"

"Emily this is for your own good."

"I can't believe you!" Emily shouted angrily, standing up to her mom. "I'm different. So what, everyone's different. You going to penalize me because of who I have feeling for? Can you ever hear yourself talking!"

"Don't raise your voice to me young lady. You're feelings aren't right! You're not right! And I don't support what is going on under my household!"

"Your household! I can't believe you," Emily shouted storming past her mother.

"Emily! You get back here right now!" But Emily didn't hear what her mother had to say. She was already out the door running. She heard her mother's voice shouting after her, but that too soon stopped.

Her tears were not streaming down her face, obscuring her view. She didn't see the pothole in front of her and took a fall down the street, landing hard on her hands. She lied there, and for a moment, felt as if the world had suddenly smashed down on top of her. Her tear could speak words that her mouth wouldn't allow. Pam was never going to let Emily go back. She'd discovered Emily's biggest secret. Emily pulled herself to her feet and continued to head in the direction of Spencer's barn. The lights were still on when she got there. She knocked twice.

When Spencer opened the door, her heart sank, standing before her was a battered Emily. Her hands were cut up; there was a hole in her jeans, and a nasty scrape on her left cheek.

"Em? What the hell happened to you?"

"I fell…can I please stay here tonight?" Emily said, trying to hold back her tears.

"Yeah, of course." Spencer opened the door wider for Emily to come in. She led her into the living room and went to grab a change of clothes. When she returned, she found Emily still in sitting on the couch.

"Em…what happened?" Spencer said, washing the scrapes on Emily's knees and hands.

"M-my mom…she found out."

"Shit," Spencer whispered. "Em, I'm so sorry."

"I didn't mean to intrude, but I didn't know where else to go," Emily choked, wiping away a few stray tears.

"Em, you're always welcome here. Always," Spencer said, rubbing circles around Emily's back. "Do you want to talk about it?"

"I wrote Paige a letter right after the trial was over, and my mom found Paige's response in the mail. She went through my things and found other things. She put two and two together. She took away my phone, keys, computer, everything. I'm never going to see her again."

"Don't say that. Of course you will."

"You didn't see the look on my mom's face. She's never going to forgive me, let alone let me out of her sights. I should've never come home."

"We'll work it out. I promise. We snuck around our parents for years."

"Thanks, Spence," Emily said, leaning into Spencer. "I don't even know what to do anymore."

"Here." Spencer dug her phone out of her pocket and handed it to Emily. Emily glanced at it for a few seconds, before turning away.

"It doesn't make a difference. I don't even have her number."

"What about the landline I called?"

"I already tried. It was disconnected after the trial ended."

"Em, Paige knows how much you care about her, and vice versa."

"I know…I just don't want her to think that I gave up on her. I promised her that I would fight."

"I know…" Spencer said, trying to come up with a plan. "You should get some rest. You've had a long day. Tomorrow, I'll make breakfast and we'll talk more then."

Emily didn't fall asleep that night. Every time she would try and close her eyes moments of Paige would invade her mind. She missed the smell of mangos, and the soft touch of Paige's lips. She missed that McCullers's smile and her distinct laugh.

When Spencer emerged from her room the following morning she found Emily sitting on the couch, with her knees curled to her chest. There were dark rings under her eyes. Spencer made her way in to the kitchen and started a pot of coffee.

"Hey."

"Hey," Emily croaked.

"How ya feeling?"

"How am I supposed to face my mother?"

"I don't know, but Emily you stand up for yourself. This is who you are, and no one should give a damn, especially your mother. You are who you are…you can't change that."

"I know…"

"Come on, let's get you something to eat and some coffee," Spencer said, offering Emily a hand.

Emily didn't have much of an appetite for breakfast. Her nerves were building and building with every passing minute. She thought she might pass out when Spencer pulled up in front of her house.

"Em, if you ever need somewhere to stay, you're always welcome to stay at the barn," Spencer said, giving Emily's hand a gentle squeeze. "Besides…I could use the company."

"Thanks Spencer." Emily glanced out the window and saw her mother standing on the porch with her arms folded.

"Remember, you can't change, but she can." Emily nodded before getting out of the car.

Emily could feel Pam's anger radiating off of her, as she got closer. Pam forced a smile and wave to Spencer before pulling Emily into the house. Emily pulled herself out of her mother's grip, and took a couple of steps back.

"Don't you ever think about running away again," Pam said sternly. "From here on out you will let me know where you are at all times and I expect you to be where you say you'll be."

"That's completely unfair."

"Actually it isn't, but you attitude could do with a change. Now go up to your room."

"If dad were here—"

"Well he's not…"

"IF he were," Emily said raising her voice to her mother. "He would tell me to do what makes ME happy. Do I look happy to you?"

With that, Emily let her mother to ponder the question. Once she was upstairs, she locked her door and began searching her drawer. She prayed that her mother hadn't found the ring. She'd kept it hidden in an old medal case, and was relieved to find it still resting peacefully inside.

"You can't change, but she can," Emily whispered to herself. She pulled the ring off the necklace and slipped it onto her finger.


	23. Chapter 23

**Chapter 23**

"Paige are you sure about this?" Christine asked worriedly.

"Mom, I made a promise…you know how much Emily means to me, and if what's going on it true…I need to be there."

"Okay…I'll drive."

Paige was on a flight to Philly a few hours later. Paige's nerves were building up with every passing minute. She questioned if her relationship with Emily would be stronger or if this would destroy everything.

The wheels bouncing against the tarmac shook her from her thoughts. She glanced around. Philly was much biggest than Suches. It was weird seeing a skyline of buildings. She grabbed her bag from baggage claim.

"Paige!" She looked around for the person who called her name and spotted Spencer waving her over. Spencer was a little taller than Paige, and lanky.

"Spencer," Paige said holding out her hand, but instead she was engulfed in a hug.

"It's so good to see you! Wow you look even better in person."

"Thanks."

The drive to Rosewood was filled with small talk. Spencer found amusement in Paige's nonexistent knowledge of cities.

"Here we are," Spencer said, pulling up in front of a barn.

"You live in a barn?"

"It's renovated," Spencer laughed. "There's a guest bedroom upstairs you can stay in. I'll give you some time to unwind."

"Nah, I'm ready to go."

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah, I can't stand waiting another minute."

"Okay," Spencer smiled. "I'll get the others here."

Spencer sent out a text to the group: **Paige here. Barn now.** In less than 10 minutes two other girls were walking into the barn.

"Wow…that was fast…" Paige mumbled.

"OMG Paige….You're like hot hot," a blonde girl said, swooping Paige into a hug.

"Uh…thanks?"

"Oh sorry, I'm Hanna."

"Paige…"

"Aria," the shorter brunette said. Paige nodded.

"Okay…we'll all get a chance to interrogate Paige later, but right now…we need to get Pam to loosen her grip on Emily."

"What if I just went over and talked to Pam?"

"Are you insane!…she'll rip your head off," Hanna warned.

"Okay got any better ideas," Paige urged. "Look I know you guys have gotten away with a lot of things…"

"What…how?" Hanna argued.

"It doesn't matter. Look when does Pam take her eyes on Emily."

"Never…"

"Seriously?" They all nodded in unison.

"Her grips gotten tighter now that we're not in school anymore."

"Does she get to see you guys?"

"Barely…and usually her mother is there."

Paige let out a frustrated groan, before getting her feet. "There has to be something. What about lunch? Or movie night? Or something…anything!"

"Won't work," Aria replied.

"What other options are there? Cause the only one that sounds remotely good to me is me walking up and knocking on the front door!"

"What if one of us went and confronted her?" Hanna countered. All eyes went to Spencer.

"You want me to go?" Everyone nodded. "Pam is going to rip my head off," Spencer whispered. "Okay. I'll go tomorrow, and let you know."

"You'll do fine," Paige said reassuring Spencer. "It can't be easily for her either, but it doesn't give her the right to treat Emily like this."

"Okay, here." Spencer handed Paige a phone. "I'll be on the other line so you can hear everything."

Paige waited patiently until she finally heard Spencer's voice. Spencer's nerves were building as she knock on the Field's front door.

To Spencer's surprise, Emily opened the door. "Spencer? What are you doing here?" Paige felt her heart skip a beat at the sound of Emily's voice. She missed that voice dearly, but there it was an utterly sad voice.

"Is your mom here?"

"She's out in the back…"

"Emily who's at the door?"

"It's Spencer."

"Spencer what are you doing here?" Emily asked again, this time more hurried and hushed.

"I done watching your mother do this to you."

"Spencer, please come in," Pam said, appearing in the doorway.

"Thank you…actually I was wondering if we could speak alone."

"Sure."

Spencer followed Pam out to patio. "So what did you want to talk to me about."

"I don't like the way that you've been treating Emily."

"I don't think that that's for you to decide."

"I don't think that it's right to treat someone differently just because of who they like!"

"You don't understand, this isn't right?"

"Right!" Spencer scoffed. "Have you actually looked at your daughter? And I mean really taken a look?" Pam didn't respond. "She's miserable. I haven't seen her crack a smile in months! She doesn't eat. She's not healthy. Do you know why? It's because of you!"

"Watch your attitude young woman!" Pam snapped.

"No! You're doing this to her all because of some damn belief!"

"That is the word of god you are disgracing!"

"Word written on a damn piece of paper! This is your daughter were talking about!" Spencer said angrily, raising her voice. "A real human being who loves you!"

"I think its time you leave," Paige heard Pam say sternly. "Now."

"You know Wayne would have swooped her up in his arms and said 'if your happy, then I'm happy. You're too blinded by your beliefs to see just how beautiful and loving Emily is, and then one day you'll wake and realize you've lost her. Emily's my friend too, and at least I have eyes to see what all of this is doing to her."

Emily crept down the stairs only to hear the tail of their conversation. She was warmed by Spencer's effort. Spencer had won an argument against Pam which was extremely rare.

"You've always been an amazing mom, hell, sometimes I wish that you were my mom sometimes, but what's you're doing to Emily isn't right."

Emily heard the footsteps nearing the door and quickly hid in her room with her ear pressed against the door.

Spencer opened the door, but turned before leaving. "You know I think you'd like Paige, a lot. She's a lot like Emily. She's funny, kind, and would do anything for her. It shouldn't matter who you fall in love with. Love is love Mrs. Fields…even you should know that.

Without another glance, Spencer closed the door behind her. She reached for her phone. "Paige, you there?"

"Yeah."

Spencer heard the door opening behind her. She turned expecting to see an angry Pam Fields, but this time it was a teary-eyed Emily.

"You talked to Paige?" Emily questioned. "Is she on the phone?"

"Spence…let me talk to her…please!" Spencer handed over the phone.

"P-paige?"

"Hey Em…"

"Paige! Oh my god! It's you…"

"It's me baby…I made a promise to you didn't I?"

"Yeah," Emily laughed through tears. "You did."

"Everything's gonna be okay…"

"I love you Paige."

"I love you too Emily."

Pam called out Emily's name. A look of fright appeared on Emily's face and she quickly handed the phone back to Spencer.

"Thank you Spencer," she whispered before heading inside.

"So do you think you got through to her?" Paige asked.

"I don't know…she definitely wasn't happy with me…but she couldn't argue some of my points."

"So what know?"

"We wait…there's not much else we can do…is there?"

"I suppose not. It might be a bad idea to show up on the Fields's doorstep and expect to be welcomed with open arms."

"Graduation is on Friday. Let's lay low until then. I'll have Aria keep an eye on Emily. We both shouldn't been seen around the Fields' for a few days. It's best to let Pam have some time with Emily to figure things out."

"Okay…" Paige said in defeat. She knew that Pam needed some space. Having a gay children is a lot of change to a family, sometimes people need time to process…that was one thing that Paige understood.

"So now what do we do?"

"Well…I'd love to get to know you more. I only really know what Emily's told me."

"Ask away."

Paige felt the bed shift under her. "Em?" There was no answer. Paige felt the bed move again. She opened her eyes slowly only to find another set of bright blue orbs staring back at her. "What the fuck!" Paige said pushing Hanna off her. "Jesus Hanna!" Paige clambered out of bed and faced Hanna who was sitting on the bed with a devious smirk.

"What the hell Hanna? Are you trying to scare me?"

"Maybe…" she laughed. "I was thinking we could spend some time together."

"Spencer!" Paige called.

"Well you sure know how to deadpan a situation," Hanna deadpanned as she heard Spencer running up the stairs.

"What? What's wrong?" Spencer asked running into the room. "Hanna what are you doing here?"

"Does your friend know what personal space means?"

"Of course, I do," Hanna answered. "I just selective choose to ignore it."

"Hanna's a very forward person," Spencer said. "Someone needs to put a filter on her sometimes."

"Hey, I just want to get to know the girl who stole our Emily's heart."

"Fine," Paige said. "But you scare me like that again…I will punch you."

"Ohhh! A girl with some spice. I like you already," Hanna said happily. "So who wears the pants in the relationship?"

"Alright…good luck Paige!" Spencer laughed. "I'll be downstairs."

Paige spent an hour answering Hanna's very forward and personal questions. Hanna knew more about her than her own mother did.

"Well I think I'd tortured you enough one day," Hanna said, slapping Paige leg. "I just have one more question?"

"Hanna I swear if it's another question about sex, I will kill you?"

"No of course not…I'm saving the nitty gritty ones for later when I'm bored." Paige had officially labeled Hanna as crazy.

"It can't be worse than any other questions…"

"In your honest opinion…if I were gay…would you find me attractive?"

"What?" Paige asked confused. "Are you being serious?'

"Duh…" Hanna said rolling her eyes.

Hanna was beautiful….that Paige couldn't deny. But she wasn't physically attractive to her. Hanna would be more like a perfect wingwoman."

"Hanna you're beautiful and really attractive…but…uh…"

"You've only got eyes from one girl with olive skin and raven hair?"

"Yeah…" Paige smiled.

"You're one hell of a keeper Paige," Hanna smiled with approval. "I can see why Emily likes you."

Aria came by the house later that night. She'd spent the day spying on the Fields but came up with nada. There was no movement in or out of the house. It was like no one was home, but both cars were in the driveway.

"Spencer…I need to see her."

"I know."

"I can't wait…I need to know that she's okay."

"Okay," Spencer said. "Pam usually takes sleeping pills to go to bed. It's usually out of 10pm. She'll sleep through anything."

"Okay…but I can't break into their house."

"There a tree on the left side of the house. It's right in front of Emily's window. Pam's room is downstairs on the opposite side of the house so she wouldn't hear you anyways."

"Okay," Paige said committing Spencer's directions to memory.

"You can borrow car."

"Thank Spencer. I owe you."

"If all of this works out…consider us even."

Paige patiently waited for 10pm to come. She packed up a few things from Spencer's fridge she knew Emily would like.

Spencer lived about 10 minutes from Emily's house. She followed Spencer's instructions and parked near Aria's and walked. She found the tree, and was thankful to see a dim light coming from Emily's room. She quickly made her way up the tree, and was soon facing Emily's window.

Emily's back was too her. She was wearing one of Paige's oversized sweatshirts and shorts. Paige knocked gently against of the window.

Emily jumped at the sound. She quickly turned around to see where it came up. "Paige." Paige was standing outside her window, holding up a container of mint chocolate chip ice cream.

Emily quickly opened the window and helped Paige in, before capturing her lips. Paige raveled in Emily's soft and sweet tasting lips. She wrapped her arms around Emily's waist and pulled her closer.

"Hi," Paige whispered.

"Hi," Emily laughed, trying to not let her tears fall. "You're here."

"I am." Paige placed her kiss on Emily's forehead, before pulling her into a tight embrace. "I missed you."

"I miss you too," Emily said through sobs. "How did you get here?"

"I reached out to Spencer when I hadn't heard from you. She told me what happened and I came out as soon as I could."

"God, I must be the luckiest girl in the world."

"Must be," Paige laughed. "Come on how about we eat some ice cream?"

Paige had noticed the physically changes. Emily was much skinnier since the last time she saw her. There were dark circle around eyes.

"Mmmmhhhh," Emily moaned, after taking a bit of ice cream. "God this is so good."

"I'm glad. I brought you a few other things," Paige said pulling out some more food. "Oh and this." Paige pulled out a card and a cookie. It was in the shape of a graduation hat that said 'congratulations'.

"I hope you never stop doing these little things," Emily said taking the cookie. "I must look like a horrible girlfriend right about now."

"Never," Paige said wrapping her arms around Paige. "You're perfect."

They stay up talking until the wee hours of the morning. The sun was beginning to rise over the trees when they finally realized what time it was.

"I should get going before you mom wakes," Paige said somberly. Emily nodded quietly. "Hey I'll be alright. Your mom will come around. Spencer gave her a lot to think about."

Emily followed Paige to the window and gave her one last kiss. "We'll get through this together. If you need anything, I'll be at Spencer's."

Paige descended the tree, and took one last glance before heading down the street. Her heart was full once again. Even though the circumstances were not ideal, Emily was still there.


	24. Chapter 24

**hey guys! wrote this one today so I apologize if there are any spelling mistakes. I didn't have time to read over it carefully because I told y'all I would have this up on Sunday!**

 **Chapter 24**

Paige felt herself being shaken away. "Whaat?"

"Paige, it's Spencer." Spencer slowly came into focus.

"What? What time is it?" Paige asked groggily.

"It's almost noon." Paige shot out of bed, realizing how late it was. She never slept in this late. "Hey, relax! The graduation doesn't start for a few hours. We just ordered pizza. I hope you like veggies." Paige nodded. "Great the others should be coming soon."

"Others?" Paige asked.

"Yeah, um, all the parents are coming over."

"So…Pam…" Paige questioned. Spencer nodded. "Maybe I'll just stay up here. I don't want to get Emily into more trouble."

"Paige," Spencer said, taking a seat next to her. "Sometimes one just needs to see how much two people love each other."

"You really think Pam would be okay with me appearing out of nowhere and swooping Emily into my arms?"

"Well…" Spencer paused. "We won't know until we try."

"Spencer…I don't want to make things worse for Emily. I've seen things like these tear families apart…and the last thing I want to do is tear Emily's apart, especially after losing her father."

"Pam loves Emily, and believes that she's doing this for Emily's sake, but maybe if she were to see how happy Emily was with you…she might realize that seeing Emily happy is greater than the fact that it's a woman that she's happy with. I've always known Pam to be a reasonable and loving person, but since Wayne's death, she'd do anything to protect Emily. I believe that this is her way of protecting Emily from the stigma of the LGBT community."

"Stigma…? You're kidding right?"

"Look, I know it sounds ridiculous. But just please trust me on this okay. Pam loves Emily and you love Emily. You both want what's good for her. You just need to show that this 'lifestyle' isn't a 'lifestyle'…it's part of who you are, part of your identity."

"And how do you suggest that I do that?"

"Talk to Pam."

"I think I'm asking for a death sentence…" Paige said rolling out of bed.

"Pam would never make a scene in front of family friends. Things are already at rock bottom, how much worst could things get."

"She could send Emily off to one of those religious camps."

"Pam would never do that. Trust me." Spencer got up from the bed and headed to the door. "People should be arriving in about half an hour."

Paige quickly leapt out of bed and hurried to the bathroom. She took a quick shower before changing into something more presentable. The nerves were building as each minute passed.

"Everything's going to be fine, okay." Spencer gave Paige's shoulder a reaffirming squeeze before going to answer the door. She took a few deep breaths, listening to voices echoing from the door.

A few minutes later Hanna and Aria appeared, followed by their parents. Both were wearing white dresses and heels. They greeted Paige before heading outside.

"Where's Em?" Aria asked Spencer.

"She should be here any minute," Spencer said checking her phone.

"So, how are you feeling?" Hanna asked turning to Paige.

Paige let out a nervous laugh. "I feel like my insides might explode." Hanna gave her

hand a gently squeeze as Spencer went to go get the door. "Shit…I think I might pass out."

"Paige, hey," Aria said, forcing Paige to look at her. "Pretend like you're talking to one of us, okay…You love Emily…do this for her." Paige nodded and took a deep breath.

Emily walked quietly to Spencer's front door…her mother right behind her. She knew Paige would be somewhere in the Hastings's residence. May she would get to see her, alone. Pam rang the door bell, and a few seconds later Spencer opened the door cheerily.

"Emily. Pam, just in time," Spencer said, opening the door wider. She caught Emily in the doorway. "Paige is outside."

"What?" Emily said, wide-eyed. Her eyes landed on her mother who was heading in the direction of the Hastings's backyard.

"Just, let Paige do the talking, okay." Emily was confused, but nodded and followed Spencer into the kitchen.

Pam was mingling among the rest of the parents, when Emily made her way outside. She spotted Paige talking with Aria, and smiled.

"Paige!" Paige whipped around, and smiled when she saw Emily coming towards her.

"Hey," Paige laughed through their tight embrace.

"Thanks." Emily nervously tucked a strand of hair behind her ear, before looking up at Paige. "You don't know how much this means to me."

"I wouldn't miss it for the world," Paige said leaning in. She stopped, and pulled away. "Sorry, um." Emily's eyes floated to where her mother was talking to Ella Montgomery. Paige's followed.

"I'm sorry Paige."

"Hey." Paige rested a gently hand on Emily's cheek. "You have nothing to be sorry for."

"God, I just really want to kiss you right now." Paige let out a chuckle and pressed a gently kiss to Emily's cheek.

Paige saw a figure moving quickly from the corner of her eye and knew that Pam Fields was upon them. She glanced up and was met with the fierce glare of Pam. Emily moved in front of Paige, protecting her.

"Emily, what is this!" Pam said angrily, not looking at Paige.

"Mom! Stop!"

"Paige, this is a family gathering. I think it's best that you leave." Emily moved to retaliate, but Paige rested a hand on her shoulder.

"Your mother's right," Paige said.

"What! Paige, you're not going anywhere!" Emily argued.

"Em. It's okay," Paige said, giving her a gently smile. "Pam, do you think I could talk to you out front?" Pam did not answered Paige, but headed inside.

"Paige, please, don't," Emily begged.

"It'll be okay," Paige said, trying to sound confident. "Promise." She followed Pam inside and headed to the front porch. She took the seat opposite Pam.

"Pam…" Paige started, but was interrupted my Pam.

"Paige. I don't know what's going on between you and my daughter, but it end right now."

"No." Paige stood her ground. "You don't scare me…and there's nothing that you can say or do that would make me stop loving your daughter."

"This is not who Emily is. She was raised to be a good girl, not…this."

"I understand that you're angry and upset."

"Oh I don't think that you do!"

"You don't understand how incredible hard it is to tell someone, especially some that you love, that you're different."

"Emily is not' different'. She's confused. You put ideas in her head! She was perfectly fine before she saw you."

"Mrs. Fields, you can be mad at me, but dealing with something like this…being gay, isn't easy. When I found out that I first like girls…I thought that something was wrong with me…that my family wouldn't accept…that somehow I had done something wrong. I spent years trying to convince myself that it was just a phase, just like you're doing right now." Paige stared intently at Pam trying to gauge her reaction. "I was frightened to tell my parents…I prepared for the worst…to be kicked out, to be disowned, to be sent to a camp where they 'fix' people like me…but my family welcomed me with open arms. They said that they'd love me no matter who I loved. All they wanted was for me to happy."

"Pai—"

"Wait, Mrs. Fields, I just need to say this, please." Pam nodded. "When I got a call from Spencer telling me that you had locked Emily up in the house and that you were banning her from communicating with me, I was shocked. The Pam Fields I knew was so loving and kind; she made us cookies for movie nights and tell us scary stories before bed. I hardly recognize the Pam Fields I see now. Don't you see how miserable Emily is." Pam glanced through the window at Emily. Paige sensed guilt starting to wash over Pam. "I know that you think that you're doing the right thing, but what if you were Emily. What if you were hiding this key part of your identity, and just when you start to feel at home with who you are…your own mother disapproves." Paige let the silences brew for a minute. Pam sat there quietly staring at her hands. "I love your daughter, Mrs. Fields. I know that you don't accept it, but I hope that one day you will and that you will be there to support Emily."

Paige got up and heading inside, leaving Pam to think about their conversation. Paige rejoined Emily outside. "Hey, everything okay?" Paige nodded and took a seat next to Emily.

"I've never seen anything stand up to Pam Fields like that," Spencer said, surprised to see that Paige had returned and in one piece.

"I'm sorry about my mom," Emily whispered.

"You've got nothing to be sorry about. I just hope that one day she will accepted it. But for now…how about we enjoy the fact that we are here, together."

Pam brewed over what Paige had said to her. Her mind battle with her beliefs. Of course she'd seen same-sex couples everywhere. Had she cringed at them? No. Had she thought that they were different? Sure, but it was just because it was something 'different'.

She watched the smile appear on Emily's face as Paige walked towards her. It struck her then. She hadn't seen Emily smile, really smile, since her father's death a few years back. A pang of guilt hit her hard. She pulled out the crimson letter from her purse and stared at it. Emily's future lay in her fingers.

All she wanted was to see Emily happy. Seeing her with Paige, seeing the way that she smiled and laughed…Pam knew she was wrong about the way she had treated Emily. Emily…she was her Emily, the little girl who worked her ass off to get what she wanted.

"You okay Pam?" Veronica asked, coming onto the porch. Pam nodded. "You know Emily will forgive you."

"Will she?" Pam said, wiping away a stray tear. "After everything I've done…I just wanted to protect her…and growing up we were taught that people like…gay people…was wrong."

"Look how happy she looks Pam." Veronica motioned to Emily again. "This is the happiest I've seen her in years. Emily wouldn't be doing something like this for the faint of heart. She knows what she wants and who she is. She's a strong woman Pam. It's time that you let her make her own decisions and more importantly you be there to support her decisions. I know that it goes against everything in your belief, but this is Emmy we're talking about."

"I'm so sorry," Pam said, pulling Veronica into a tight embrace.

"I don't think it's me who you need to be saying that to."

Emily began to worry since her mother had not returned from her confrontation with Paige. What had they talked about? Obviously it was enough to either make her mother run for the woods or give her something serious to think about. Emily tried not to think about it too hard. She focused on the present. Paige was with her and she wasn't sure when they would, or if they would see each other again.

"Em," Spencer said, nudging Emily. Emily glanced at the direction that Spencer was staring at. Emily felt a lump form in her throat as she watch Pam stride towards her.

"Mom—" But Pam interrupted her. "Can we talk Emmy?" Emily nodded and followed her mother to the edge of the barn.

"Mom please don't be mad at Paige –" Pam held her hand up for silence. Emily felt her heart racing faster and faster.

"Emily, I don't understand it, but I'm trying." Pam took a deep breath before continuing. "I spent my entire life learning one thing, and for suddenly everything to be completely against what I believe…you can understand how hard that is for me."

"I'm sorry."

"I love you Emmy. I always have. Losing your father made me more protective of you, and, oh, Emmy. I just want what's best for you." Pam let out a quiet sob. "Seeing you two together…it's the first that I've really seen you smile…I'm so sorry Emmy."

Emily felt her walls start to crumble. She knew that she mother was only doing what she thought was best for her. She pulled her mother into a tight embrace. All the anger that filled her washed away. The resentment turned to sadness, and the hatred turned to sympathy.

"Paige makes me happy mom…I'm just glad that you can see it."

"Be patient with me Emily. It's going to take some time to get used to," Pam said, wiping away her tears.

"We'll take it one step at a time," Emily said tearfully.

"You know I love you Emmy."

"I know." Emily smiled and beckoned Paige. "Mom, this is Paige, my girlfriend." Paige smiled widely, as Pam pulled her into a gentle hug.

"It's nice to meet you again," Paige smiled.

Paige sat next to Pam that afternoon and watched Emily cross that stage and technically receive her diploma. Emily smiled brighter than she ever had. For once in her life, everything seemed to be falling slowly into place.

"So Pam and Paige seem to be cozy up," Hanna said quietly.

"Yeah." Emily smiled. "It's progress...but hey…I'll take what I can get."

"Hey…soon Pam will be practically pushing for you two to get married and have her grandchildren." Emily let out a soft laugh. "It's be okay. Pam's coming around."

They all gathered after the graduation at the Brew. Pam sat quietly across from Paige and Emily and observed them intently throughout the entire meal. They're love was genuine. The way they looked at each other, made her think back to the way she used to look at Wayne.

"Mom…are you okay?" Pam heard Emily ask. Pam had even realized the tears that she had been shedding. She quickly wiped the tears away.

"I'm fine. Would you excuse me?" Emily gave Paige a confused looked before following her mother outside.

"Mom, what's wrong?" Emily asked, worried.

"I-I, oh, Emmy. I miss your father so much." Emily pulled her mother into her arms and held her tightly as she sobbed. "I was so horrible to you…When I see you and Paige…I see what your father and I used to have."

"I miss him too."

"You've been through so much…and I've put you through so much…but seeing you happy is all I've ever wanted. I know that these past few weeks I haven't been the best mother…" Pam took a deep breath. "Paige is a wonderful girl, and if she makes you happy…then I'm happy."

"I love you mom."

"I love you too."

"Are you sure that your mom is okay with this?" Paige said, snuggling next to Emily.

"We just gotta take it slow. Let her adjust."

"So that means I can't stay the night…"

"Don't push your lucky," Emily laughed, giving Paige a quick kiss. "Thank you for saying what you said today."

"Anytime. I just glad that it didn't back fire on me."

They lay there curled in each other arms for a few more hours. Around 11pm they heard Pam coming of the stairs. Paige quickly hopped out of bed and began gathering her things. A few moments later Pam knocked and entered.

"Hi…um I'm going to bed so I think it's time—"

"I'm just about to leave," Paige said with a smile. "Thank you for letting me stay…and dessert was amazing."

"I'm glad someone appreciates my cooking," Pam said smiling.

Paige gave Emily a quick kiss on the cheek. She thought about kissing her, but didn't want to push it too far with Pam.

"I'll see later."

"How about you come over for breakfast tomorrow?" Pam offered.

Paige glanced at Emily, who was beaming, before answering. "That sounds lovely. What time?"

"How about 9 o'clock?"

"9 o'clock it is."


End file.
